With the first agreement on a new arrival confirmed on Thursday, manager Paul Simpson confirmed once more that the ideal summer window will involve more swift decisions and acquisitions.
“There’s always a lot of work going on in the background and this is the first one we’ve got over the line,” he said after the announcement on Owen Moxon had been made. “There are still others we’re working to try and secure, and we can never guarantee that we’re going to get them all done before 22 June, but I do want as many as we possibly can get to be done sooner rather than later.
“I want to try and get there. I want decisions on the lads we’ve made offers to, and I actually wish I hadn’t told them they had until the end of the month, I wish I’d brought that forward, but that’s the club being kind.
“We’ll see how we go with them. I would really like to have those lads back in with us on 22 June, and then it’s up to us to make sure we get more.”
“Greg [Abbott] has done an incredible job so far,” he added. “I’m really pleased with what he’s doing, and in the background as we were trying to get his one over the line, he was doing all the work with Owen.
“I’d started the ball rolling by watching him weeks and weeks ago, but we’ve all seen him, we’ve all spoken to people about him, and that’s why we’re all pleased that we’ve managed to get the deal done.
“Owen can go away and have a little break with his pals now, before he gets ready to come back in, and hopefully there’ll be a few more.”
And the capture of Moxon is in indication of the type of the player we might be seeing more of as the next few weeks roll by.
“You’ve got to have athleticism, it’s as simple as that,” he commented. “But I don’t just want a team of athletes, I want a team of athletes who can actually play as well. He brings that to the table with what he can do.
“I am really looking forward to working with him, I think he’ll be a really good acquisition, and I can tell that he’s hungry.
“I want more hungry players, I want them all coming in wanting to prove a point and wanting to go on and develop.
“I want them all to be part of a club that has the intention of wanting to be better and moving forward, so let’s see how he goes.”
With one finalised, is anything else imminent?
“I’ll be really honest with you, about two days ago I wasn’t sure that Owen was going to be signed, but things move quickly,” he explained. “Once you get to a certain point you can move them along.
“Look, I want things done. I want players in. I want to know where they’re going. I go away on holiday in a week or two and I would like to get some more done by then.
“I can’t make any guarantees because I really don’t know, these things just evolve.
“Sometimes they evolve slowly and sometimes they go really quickly. I’ll keep you waiting … but when something’s going to happen I promise I’ll tell you.”
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