STEVE’S ON THE SIDE OF ANGELS
But boss McKimm won’t rest on a fast start
STEVE McKimm has a simple message for his Tonbridge Angels’ squad after a heavenly start to the season: Turn up the volume!
The Kent outfit sit top of the Bostik Premier table going into FA Cup weekend following five wins and a draw from their opening six games with just one goal conceded.
Boss McKimm has been around long enough to know these are moments to be savoured and he’s told his players exactly that every time they come off the pitch with a win this season.
“You always want to strive to do better but I’ve come to the conclusion, and I’ve told the players, that any game they win – whether it’s a league game or a Kent Senior Cup game – it’s a game of football you’ve won so go and enjoy it,” McKimm told The NLP.
“Put the music on and celebrate it because there’s no guarantee you’re going to win game after game in football.
“The hard work and desire you put in doesn’t guarantee you results. It helps, but when you win a game, and that’s what they’re doing this year, is enjoy it. That’s the way footwith ball should be. I see too many times when you lose games people sitting there with the hump because they haven’t done well personally or the team hasn’t done well collectively, so we enjoy every win.”
Calendar
The club are working hard to engage the community and fanbase with a number of events in the calendar to help boost McKimm’s budget.
“We’ve got a lot going on at the club,” McKimm said. “We’ve had Paul Merson there this week as a guest speaker, we’ve got a race night coming up, we had a quiz night last Friday and we’re topping it off with a golf day next month.
“We’re trying to raise as much as we can to go to the 12th Man Fund. We’re not asking for people to just give us money, we’re setting up events for it.
“They have to pay but hopefully they get enjoyment out of it and if that can help us keep the squad together or bolster it, then all well and good. We’re not going to be able to get five or six players, but it might help us keep one or two on smaller money or add one or two on smaller money. It’s all about juggling which NonLeague football is about because it’s tough.”
Assumptions
That was highlighted in the summer when an outstanding tax bill blindsided the club and saw them placed under a temporary transfer embargo until it was paid off.
It’s why McKimm, who had recruited well beforehand good arrivals like former Harlow Town hot-shot Alex Read, wants to enjoy their opening to the campaign while making sure they attempt to build on it.
But he won’t be making any bold statements about where they should end up.
“There’s no point making predictions because it comes back to bite you on the backside,” McKimm said.
“I let other people make predictions and comment on our squad, our budget and all stuff like that because they don’t know the truth.
“Only I know the truth and the club know the truth in terms of monies we are paying.
“You get that a lot at our clubs. ‘Oh Tonbridge Angels are paying big money’. No, we’re not. As I’ve said before, we’ve got players who have come for less money.
“We’ve got a budget, it’s sustainable for the club and players come to play for us, for me, because of the players here and it works well.
“So I’ll let other people make assumptions on where we’re going to finish and we’ll just go out and play each game – hopefully we do well as a team and do well for the football club because that’s who we are representing.”