Improvement is name
JIM Bentley says Southport are striving to improve after steering the Sandgrounders to safety.
Their topsy-turvy season was eventually brought to a steady conclusion when they beat Rushall Olympic 3-0 in the penultimate game of the campaign.
Bentley took over in August with the Yellows rooted to the bottom of the National League North as their status in the league was under immense pressure after picking up one point in their first three matches.
The former Morecambe and Rochdale boss said the conclusion of the season was a ‘relief’ but he was left proud of their achievements after taking over in a difficult position.
“It was a relief because of the situation we were in but when you go back to when I came to the club, I think anyone would’ve snapped our hand off to be safe for the Rushall Olympic game,” said Bentley.
“Sometimes you’re a victim of your own success, you start well and people talk about playoffs but we’ve been up and down, overall, the biggest priority was to stay in the division after the run of the previous season and taking one point from the first six.
“In football, there’s no magic wand, it’s taken a lot of hard work but it’s a good achievement, in a tough league, after the start we had. It’s been a big turnaround in the first eight months when I took over, we were seven points off safety, rooted to the bottom, I’m pleased and
Southport FC owner Peter Mitchell
proud of achieved.”
This summer is one of the biggest in the club’s history as Southport look to establish themselves into the upper reaches of the table. It is the first summer for Big Help Group as custodians of the Sandgrounders with Bentley set for his first pre-season in charge.
There have already been some key decisions made with captain Adam Anson and goalscorer Jordan Archer released upon the expiry of their contracts. Question marks remain over Jack Doyle, who swooped up accolades at the most recent awards night, as well as star players Tyler Walton and Josh Hmami who have been offered extensions.
The retained list prompted surprise seeing some of the fan-favourites depart and this week, Bentley met with them to discuss their futures as what we well as hold meetings with sporting director Tammy Burgess, assistant Andy Burgess and chairman Peter Mitchell.
The 47-year-old explained: “We will have a meeting with the players, some will go and some will stay, some have options – there’s a lot to go through.
“There’s been a lot of stuff going on off the field since the Big Help come in trying to shape the club how they want to. When you come to a club, some things pop up that you didn’t expect, we’ll get set a budget, it won’t be the top budget, there will be a little bit more than last season but it’s not going to be life-changing, we’re not ripping everything up, going full-time and throwing money at it – there’s a slight increase.
“We have to make sure we use the budget wisely with players we’ve got or bring new ones in to improve it.