Opportunity for Kamdjo
Defender Lewis Knight, midfielders Clovis Kamdjo, Iffy Allen and Nana Kyei, and striker Jonny Edwards are all free to leave the club.
Head of football John Still feels they’ve lacked consistency and is looking to move them on.
He said: “What we’ve said to all of them is they’ve not played consistently well this season.
“Now, we’ve brought a lot of players in, there’s been lots of changes and lots of reasons why people perhaps haven’t started as well as we’d have liked.
“But we felt we should let them know that what they’ve produced at the moment isn’t quite what we felt they might produce, although that doesn’t mean none of them will play. “What we don’t like to do, and we’ve explained this to them, is not play you and not give you a reason.
“So we’ve given you a reason and that is your performances haven’t been as consistent as we think they should be.
“I understand people might think, ‘I thought I was doing OK’ or whatever but we’ve given them the opportunity to allow other clubs to look at their situation. By making them available we haven’t slammed the door in their faces.
“We’re saying you aren’t producing what we hoped you would produce but someone else might come along and you might go there and they might help you produce.
“I don’t know but what they’ve all got to do is come here and battle their socks off to get a place in the side, knowing people might be watching you. “If you’re doing that well, we can say it’s had the desired effect because you’ve started to improve your performances, or people might come along and see something we’re not seeing.”
Edwards is a particularly frustrating one for Still, with the Stones boss a long-time admirer of the striker and jumping at the chance to sign him from FC Halifax.
He added: “I was chuffed to get Jon and the crazy thing with him is every now and again he’s shown what he can do.
“I think back to Havant, and he ran them ragged.
“He’s had some injury problems but I can give a million excuses for lots of people – but I’m not interested in excuses.
“The best players overcome everything.
“We didn’t expect every player to hit the ground running but we expected a bit more from these particular individuals.”
Meanwhile, forgotten man Ayuk Tarh has left Maidstone after only one appearance.
The Stones waited months for clearance to play the Cameroonian midfielder and he finally made his debut as a second-half substitute at Wealdstone at the end of August. But he wasn’t willing to bide his time and fight for a place in the team. “He’s gone,” said Still. “We had a million problems getting him a work permit.
“Eventually we got a work permit but we explained to him that we weren’t in a position to say he’s fit enough to play or he’s ready to play, just because he hadn’t played for so long.
“He wanted to play straight away and we couldn’t guarantee that, so he’s gone.” Midfielder Sam Corne is a doubt for Maidstone’s game at Bath this Saturday.
Corne starred on his return from a knee injury when United beat St Albans 4-0 a fortnight ago but was back on the sidelines for the FA Cup win over Hitchin last weekend.
Head of football John Still said: “He’s not trained this week but he may train Thursday and Friday. We’ll have to see with him.”
If Corne isn’t fit, that will mean another chance for transferlisted Clovis Kamdjo to show what he can do. Still added: “We’re a bit bare in midfield without Sam so it’s given Clovis an opportunity to say, ‘yeah, I might not have done great but I’m doing better now’. Time will tell.”
Bath topped National League South in the opening weeks but have won just one of their past eight games. They’ve dropped to
11th, two points and two places behind the Stones, who have lost only twice in 10 matches. At 150 miles, it’s Maidstone’s secondlongest trip of the season – after Weymouth – while Twerton Park is the biggest ground in the league with a capacity of 8,840.
Still said: “I’m looking forward to going there. “I know Bath very well. We played them last year at Barnet in the FA Trophy. We won 3-2 but it was a tight game. “This will be a tough test away from home.”