BREN KELLY: A message from the manager

The following is a message, to the fans, from manager Bren Kelly…

Hello to the Sporting faithful. I hope you are all well 

I just wanted to reach out to you all amidst the recent departures of some of our players and set the scene a little for the coming months. 

First and foremost, we have a game on Bank Holiday Monday at Alvechurch and I hope you all come and support the team – we will be doing our best to win the trophy. 

Secondly, just to touch base around the departing players that have left the club. In football, players move on – its inevitable. And for many reasons, such as work commitments, new challenges, better offers, disagreements… the list is endless. 

In regards to new players, I’m always on the look out to improve the squad. Some of the recent departures I expected and some I didn’t, and in the future I’m sure I’ll let players go and I’m sure players will leave of their own accord.

If I’m honest, if players don’t want to be here then I’d rather they leave, as I only want players that want to be here for the club and the team. Not for status or finance – it’s non league football… it happens 

Although we have an amazing fan base, there are clubs out there that we cannot compete with and we won’t force ourselves to, as the last thing we want on our hands is the club running at a loss and risk a form of a financial collapse, just because we operated above our means. 

I’ll be making additions to the squad accordingly to make sure we are competitive. I have set myself targets and I plan to hit them. The squad is rebuilding and lots and lots of players are available, but it’s about picking the right ones and for the right value.

So taking time is paramount and, of course, our players will be approached from other teams because they are good players, just like Platty (Daniel Platt) and Charlie (Dowd) were approached. So that is also inevitable.

The league doesn’t start until 14th August, so lots of things will happen between now and then. I will be doing my best with the resources I have to make sure we are competitive. I see it as a positive challenge to bring new blood in; yes we have lost some important players, but some we have lost are not really leaving huge shoes to fill in my view.

Last season, when the league ended, we were two points better off than we were the first season we came up to Step Three at the same stage. And in that season, we were never out of the top four from November to April.

My staff and I are working hard and will always update you on the squad accordingly.

Hope to see you all on Monday 

Bren