BYFIELD FIRES A REDD WARNING!

DARREN BYFIELD says he won’t be rushed into making the wrong signings for Redditch United this summer.

The Reds chief agreed a deal to sign former Walsall and Tamworth winger Jake Jones last week and revealed he would be the first of many as he looks to steer the club away from the lower reaches of the Southern Premier Division.

But the former Aston Villa, Rotherham and Gillingham striker insists that no-one will be arriving at the Trico Stadium unless it’s on his terms.

Byfield, inset, who this week named former Worcester man Danny Jackman as his playercoach, said: “This time last season I had probably signed seven or eight players but they were all on recommendations because I didn’t know the league. I know the league now and I know what’s needed.

“The hard part is that other teams are throwing silly money at it but Redditch won’t do that – we’ll do it the right way and be successful in doing it the right way.

“There will be a lot of new players coming in and they will be players who want to play for Redditch United and who are not playing just for the money – and if it means I have to wait before signing the right players then so be it.

“Last season I was handing out the money they wanted and it was money that they probably didn’t deserve.

“That’s not going to happen this season. There won’t be any panic signings, the ones coming in will be the ones I want to sign.

X-Factor

“Every player that I sign for Redditch United will be a player that I want, a player that I believe will help us be successful, a player I believe won’t shirk a challenge, a player I believe will keep going for 90 minutes, a player I believe that when things aren’t going right will tell others they’re not pulling their weight and a player who I believe wants to be successful and ambitious.

“We weren’t ruthless enough up top last season and we weren’t ruthless enough at the back. And for too many games we didn’t have the nous and physical capabilities to control the middle of the park. “We need someone to put the ball in the net and we need men in midfield and at the back. But it’s important that we also have two or three with that X Factor – the ability to make things happen.” Byfield also revealed that highly-rated goalkeeper Brad Catlow – last season’s Player of the Year – will be staying at the Trico Stadium next season, joining the likes of Arjun Jung, Dior Angus, Donnell Benjamin and young duo Kaylum Mitchell and Zaqib Hussain He added: “I want players who show that fire and not players who let their heads drop. “They might not be as talented as other players but they want to work hard and that’s what fans want – the chance to see a team who, for 90 minutes, give everything they have.”