WATT’S ROCKIN’ WITH DJ IN TOW
STEVE WATT says DJ Oldaker staying at Hythe Town shows they are getting it right – but the boss reckons the Cannons will do well to keep hold of their star midfielder.
Oldaker, 21, has been signed up for the new campaign by Watt along with the majority of last season’s squad at the Isthmian Division One South East club.
Watt is convinced the youngster, who played more than 20 times in League One for Gillingham, has all the qualities to return to that level of the game.
But the former Margate manager believes the fact Oldaker has signed on again at Hythe illustrates he has confidence they provide the right platform to get noticed.
“DJ is a Football League player, in my eyes,” Watt told The NLP. “Bags of ability. I knew about him from when he was at Gillingham. (Hythe keeper) Will Godomon is good friends with him and I tried to get him around Christmas but he signed for someone closer to his home.
“He just fell out of love for the game after he left Gills. He went to Billericay for a bit but I don’t think that ended particularly well and just lost a bit of interest in football.
“He just wanted to come and get games and enjoy himself again. Some players just need to feel good again. Football is a cruel business for players particularly when you leave the Football League and sometimes you can never see the way back.
“But he came in last year and did well. You can see the quality the kid has and I’m delighted he’s decided to stay with us. He’s a prime example that he’s turned down offers – offers to go on trial in the National League – because he just wants to play football.
“He knows he’s in the shop window with us. He knows what he’s getting with the club and, more importantly, he’s enjoying his football again which is great to see. Kids like DJ, you hate to see them fall away and do nothing again.
Continuity
“He’s a player I believe has Football League potential. I don’t anticipate having him for the entire season.”
Watt took over at the Kent club last September and led them away from the bottom of the table to an eventual 11th place finish.
The former Maidstone United centre-back is setting targets higher this season and believes the continuity of a settled squad will be important in achieving that aim.
“This club’s history over previous seasons has been quite a large turnover of players,” Watt, who played for Chelsea in the Premier League, said. “Any success I’ve had throughout my career has been based on a continuity of players and the bulk of teams staying together.
“If we’d had a bad run towards the end of last year I may have looked to change things a bit more. But because we had a positive run and turn in form it was important we kept it together.
“We don’t know how long pre-season will be depending on a start date. They’ve said they will allow a pre-season but the season may be shorter, there may be more games crammed in – it’s all unknown at the minute.
“So having those players who know each other inside out is really important for next season and I’m just glad we’ve been able to do that and keep them together.”
Restricted
With the likes of former Maidstone mainstays Frannie Collin, Alex Flisher and James Rogers in the ranks, along with ex-Dover man Tom Wynter, hopes are high.
And while Watt knows they need to score more goals to complement their defensive solidity, he won’t shy away from wanting to be in a promotion push.
“I’m not going to play down anything - we’ve a squad that, in my eyes, should be in a playoff hunt,” Watt said.
“I can’t say title challenging because we are a little bit restricted on last year and other clubs in the league don’t seem to be that restricted.
“But we have a squad with winners, who are used to winning and dealt with the demands of big clubs to be successful.”