Daryl McMahon insists the players that have arrived at the Kuflink Stadium this summer aren’t there to make up the numbers.
Talking to BBC Radio Kent’s Charles Webster before his side saw off Gillingham on Saturday afternoon, the Fleet boss stuck to his guns that he only brings players in with the intention of improving on what he already has. And with the energetic display of Ebou Adams in midfield and Jack King’s cool, calm and collected performance in defence, McMahon was more than vindicated.
“First and foremost, Jack King and Ebou Adams are fantastic footballers,” he said. “Jack will be the best if not one of the best footballing centre-halves in the league and Ebou can do a bit of everything really. We haven’t brought them in just because they’re big, we’ve brought them in because they’re good players. They’ll fit in to what we do, their footballing intelligence is very good and they are physical as well.”
McMahon has said it plenty of times before but supporters continue – naturally – to press him about his striking options and now the Fleet manager is eyeing the closure of the Football League transfer window as another opportunity to go hunting.
“Everyone knows we’ve been trying to bring a striker in, probably like everyone else is,” he said. “And [the transfer window] doesn’t close for us so I’m looking forward to it closing for the Football League and then it might get easier for us – so we’ll see what happens in the coming weeks.”
As it stands, McMahon is more than happy with his squad, a feeling that was probably further underpinned by the performance against Gillingham.
“We look pretty strong,” he said. “I think we’re in a decent condition at the minute. We’ve got three games to go [including Gillingham] before the start of the season and we’re looking forward to it.”
And his goals for the season ahead haven’t shifted dramatically from where they lay last season, with the Fleet boss fairly certain his side will be less of a surprise package this time around.
“We had a good season in our first year in the league together,” he said. “Hopefully we can build on what we did last year only it’ll be more difficult this year looking at the teams and players in the league this year. They’ll know a bit more about us, the other teams so it’s double-sided. We’ll just keep on doing what we do and keep on working hard and keep on trying to play good football. We’ll try and aim as high as we can from the start; without a doubt we’ll do that and we’ll see where we finish.”
