Ashby unveils Hickman signing

WITH around seven weeks to go to the start of the new season, Margate manager Barry Ashby gives his latest update on preparations for the new campaign, writes Steve Wells.

The Margate management team are still working hard to bring more players to the club.

And Ashby, speaking to www.margate-fc.com, said: “It’s been slow progress in some respects; people are away, we’re waiting for people to come back to us and we’ve lost out on a couple of players despite making some good offers, but that’s football.

“We’re still searching and hunting, talking to players. I’m not going to name names at this stage for obvious reasons.

“But I can confirm that we have signed Tom Hickman,” said Ashby. “And I expect us to be able confirm more signings next week.

“As I said before, the players we want to bring to Margate must want to play for the club. We don’t want players who just turn up, collect their money and jump in their cars and go home after the game”

“In any case, “We’re stronger (in depth) than people give us credit for, although it might take six months to bring more of the younger players through,” he added.

Again Gate’s boss reiterated the aim of next season to, “finish as high as we can.”

“I want to get our team playing on a consistent basis. But if we do lose, I want to see us go down fighting. I think if fans see players putting genuine effort in, they’ll give them – and me – more time to get it right.

“But the young players do need our support – that’s the management team and the supporters. They need all of us to be patient with them.

“All fans are pretty much the same. At Gillingham some thought I was a legend, others thought I was a berk! But that’s football – all about opinions.”

Ashby also shared his view that the star names (Smith, Southall, Weatherly, Yorath and Ashby) offers the club an advantage in encouraging players to sign.

He said: “But it’s also about making sure we sign the right players now – with a good work ethic, the right attitude – so we don’t have to go back to the drawing board in three months time (when signings don’t work out).”

In keeping with Gate’s focus on youth, the Margate manager attended the under-18’s session at Hartsdown Park this week and was impressed with their, “spot-on attitude and work ethic.” Something he is working to instil across the club.

On the issue of training, permanent arrangements are still being worked on but the squad will come together for their first session at Hartsdown next week.

And finally, on the Ryman League Ashby said, “Teams are fighting to improve, and the quality of players is generally improving. I watched quite a few games last season – watched Horsham a few times and they try to play good football.

“They had a lot of success in the FA Cup doing that. But it doesn’t always work.

“In some respects most leagues are the same,” he said. “There are six or seven teams that really fancy their chances; probably spend quite a bit of money and have high expectations. Then, there are another four or five looking to challenge the top sides. And then there are the rest.”

Article courtesy of www.margate-fc.com