PARKES JUST THE JOB FOR BOSS BRENNAN
JORDAN PARKES has returned to Hemel Hempstead and manager Dean Brennan can’t wait for the midfielder to be back – despite finances being tight.
Parkes rejoins the Tudors following a spell with fellow National League South side Ebbsfleet, where he struggled to make an impression this season. That despite getting his Fleet career off to a flyer last season when he netted seven goals in his first nine games.
The 27-year-old ended the season with 12 strikes, but fell down Daryl McMahon’s pecking order. And Brennan was quick to bring Parkes back, after he skippered Hemel to promotion from the Southern League as champions in 2014 though he will not be handed the armband back.
Brennan told The NLP: “Parkesy is a local lad. He’s from Hemel and did really well for the three years he was with us.
“He got a good move to Ebbsfleet – a big financial move for him. They are a club that really want to go up. I don’t know why he hasn’t been playing there this season, but we took advantage of that and we are delighted to have him back.”
Parkes, who began his career at Watford, moves back to Vauxhall Road, quickly following in the footsteps of goalkeeper Jamie Butler, who also returned to Hemel last month after a spell at National League Braintree.
He joins a team that were unbeaten in September having picked up just five points from their opening seven games. They now sit 12th in the table, but Brennan isn’t getting too far ahead of himself.
He added: “We are a selling club, we have sold all our best players. This was my fifth summer, but I’ve built seven teams while I’ve been here. We’ve still managed to always improve on the season we’ve had before so, while it’s been frustrating at times, we’re doing well.
“As a manager you want to keep your best players, of course, but I understand the financial position the football club is in. We haven’t got the finances where we can go out and be a big payer. I think we are about 14th on average gates in our division.
“We have to move money around and that’s how it works for us. We do the best we can do and just take it week by week. We don’t look too far ahead because of the financial situation. We keep trying to do our best and keep trying to improve. We are a young team, the average age is 23.”
Hemel travel to Gloucester City today in the FA Cup third qualifying round, but Brennan was quick to add that it’s not vital the side win the tie in terms of the financial aspect.
He said: “There’s no pressure for us. We are not relying on finances from the FA Cup. We have our budget, that is what it is for the 40 weeks of the season and we stay within it.”