Keeping the fans up to date

We thought it would be useful to set out our pre-season objectives to provide clarity. Here is a summary of events to date:

The prime objective this summer has been to re-build the squad to ensure we have a competitive squad and team come the first game at Stalybridge on Saturday 10th August.

We have retained some players, lost a couple who we would like to have kept and released several others. We have targeted players, some of whom we have signed, some of whom we have lost for financial reasons and some with whom we remain in communication accounting for their current circumstances.

We will only sign players who show a true desire to play for the club and those we believe are good enough.

At Stafford Town we had twenty-seven players available for selection, allowing a maximum of 45 minutes per player to improve fitness and reduce the risk of injury. The following Saturday at Telford Town we had twenty-two players available, with some players getting 60 minutes game time. At home versus Crewe game time was increased to 75 minutes for some. We would like to use the first 45 minutes of any pre-season friendly by playing our strongest squad, but this has not always been possible due to player commitments, holidays, or injury.

This is frustrating but a fact of life.

We travelled to Brocton with a severely depleted squad, missing key players and whilst our performance overall was poor, Brocton fielded a very competitive team and were deserved winners, we wish them well for the forthcoming season.

Results have not been to expectation and neither have performances, bar the Crewe game. This we know is not what fans want to see but is the reality of pre-season in non-league. Whilst we expect that poor performances and results will not help us, our sole, selfish objective is to ensure we give all players/trialists and youth the opportunity to impress.

We know that we now have a key core squad of 14 with more newcomers due at training this evening and on Saturday.

We expect to announce additional signings over the next couple of weeks to finalize our squad capable of competing at the right end of the table.

We must stick together!

Stafford Rangers FC