Hands-on Hanlon
New boss says more signings will be needed to halt slump HAYES & YEADING UTD
HE handed three more players debuts on Monday night – but Hayes & Yeading joint boss Ritchie Hanlon insists the recruitment is not over yet.
Hanlon and fellow manager Paul Hughes have brought in almost an entire team’s worth of new players since taking over at United this month, many from former club Kings Langley.
Latest arrivals Josh Chamberlain and Connor Toomey, who boosted the number of ex-Kings players in the squad, and Priestley Farquharson, who captains Brunel University men’s team, made their bows in the 3-0 defeat at Hitchin Town.
But the comings and goings won’t stop there as Hanlon and Hughes search for the same blend which saw them lead Kings to three successive promotions.
Hanlon said: “We still need to recruit, but we want to recruit players with the mental strength we want, not players who have been here a while and are happy to turn up to collect their money.
“Some of the boys that have been here a while can be involved, but they need to learn that other side quickly. We’ll get there, it’s just getting the right players in the right positions, and we’ve got a few more areas to look at. There’s a lot of work to do, as a lot of boys in there are not used to winning, and we’ve got to put that right. We’ve got to make them enjoy playing football rather than it being a chore, and we have to get that winning mentality over quick.
“At Kings, we had time to get things right, but here we want to get it done quick because its a decent-sized club with decent infrastructure, and we want to do well.”
Egham Town were beaten 3-0 in the Southern League Cup last week with recent arrivals Mitchell Weiss, Josh Hutchinson and Terence Carter scoring the goals and new goalkeeper Danny Boness saving a penalty and being named man of the match.
But Hanlon and Hughes have so far presided over two league defeats, to titlechasing Leamington and Hitchin.
While there were positive signs in the Leamington defeat, Hanlon was left fuming by the manner of the surrender at Hitchin, which Hutchinson missed with an ankle injury.
“We were very lacklustre and that’s what we’re angry about,” said the joint manager. “It wasn’t everyone, some players showed, we just need more of them. But it doesn’t help when you give away three goals with schoolboy errors, we don’t get chances like we gave them.
“We’ve got to gel these boys quickly, but we had to play a few of them out of position. It was great to play Leamington and Hitchin though, because they will highlight the faults and show exactly what we need to do, there’s no plastering over the cracks and nicking a win.”
United visit St Neots Town on Saturday and Chesham United on Tuesday night.