Presteigne St Andrews’ new manager Trevor Gummer has been talking about his hopes for the coming season as he takes the step up to Spar Mid Wales League management.
While acknowledging the 2010-11 season was clearly a tough one for everyone concerned, Trevor feels it is a case of ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’ and the squad will be better for it.
“A lot of the players have got experience now and the way I look at it is that these boys will be growing in age – in two or three years time a lot of them will still be only 21 or 22,” he said.
“For me when I was playing that was when I was coming to my peak.
“I have seen it, I have played at the level for the past two years and the level below so it is just building on it, really,” he added.
Trevor has been with the club for some time and is well aware that sometimes the cooperation between the first team and Reserves has not always been as good as it could have been.
But he has made it clear that is well aware his first-team squad is only going to be competitive if there is genuine strength in depth so will be ensuring he works closely with the Reserves.
“It’s not just a first team – it’s a whole club that we are working with – I have worked with the Under-18s so I know what’s there and I have worked with the Reserves,” he said.
“Stu [Reserves’ boss Stuart Skidmore] has been on the phone already – four or five times in the last day – so we are going to work together to make sure the flow [of players] is there.
“It is a club and we are going to make sure we get the best in our first team and that is likely to come from our Reserves and most likely from our Under-18s as well,” he added.
Trevor says while his focus will be very much on bringing through the talent from the Reserves and Under-18s, he is also aware that the squad might well need bolstering in one or two key positions.
“We are hoping to make one or two signings – the first port of call was to get in contact with a goalkeeper,” he said.
“I have spoken to Craig Hill who has been here before – he is a very good goalkeeper and he wants to have that number one jersey back.
“There will be others – there’s a young lad from our Under-18s – Oliver Jones – he’s thinking about coming to Presteigne.
“He’s a very big, strong, powerful lad and that’s what we need going on from last season – a good bit of strength, especially in our front line.”