Michael Skubala has said the club could be in the play-off hunt, but only if we hit our sweet spot.
In a candid interview with Sky Sports News, Skubala discussed the challenges of the summer and addressed the question of the club’s aspirations this season.
We made no secret here at The Stacey West that we felt possibly 12th would be achievable, but that was before recruitment and looking at how our opponents did. With some big clubs, such as Blackpool, having horror starts, and those expected to be also-rans (Bradford and Doncaster) flying, everything is now up in the air.
For us, the summer came with severe squad churn, but not until late in the window. Michael discussed that, and managing departing players in terms of the overall squad strength.
“When I came in I knew the club needed to move players on and sell players,” said Michael, who sees us in seventh in the early League One table. “We had a really good window in terms of selling talent, then we had to replenish while keeping competitive.”
“Every season has a different story. We tried to keep as many as we could this time, but in the end the turnover was high. There’s a big difference between clubs wanting to buy your players and clubs moving them on. This season we had lots of interest, which is the next stage for the club.”
“As a coach you always want to keep your best players, but sometimes you lose them to bigger clubs. Then you have to reorganise.”
Those sales haven’t dampened expectations. If anything, the bar feels as if it has been raised, with investment complemented by smart loans to give the squad overall depth. That has led to us on the SW team to believe a top ten push is achievable, and that’s something the coaching team echoes.
“Our aim is to be a top-half League One team with aspirations of pushing into the play-offs. We know we’re always trying to punch a bit above our weight compared to some bigger clubs. If we hit the sweet spot, we can be in that race.”
Finally, while a supporter’s job is to dream, Michael admitted that it is his role, and that of the staff, to stay calm and stable to achieve growth, possibly not at the rate many supporters might hope.
“The club has to stay stable, calm and diligent in how it operates. Coaches need to be diligent in their work and the club has to make good recruitment decisions. We can’t grow too quickly.”
“It is the fans’ job to dream. It’s their job to get upset when we lose and excited when we win. For us, the job is to keep working hard, knowing we have to hit sweet spots against some very big clubs.”
“We can’t take our place in League One for granted. It’s a tough league. Some clubs have dropped straight through it, others have bounced around it. We’ve been here a long time. Fans will look at other clubs coming through quickly, and that’s fine.
“Our job is to be realistic about who we are and not run too fast.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.