BRICKIES BUILD ON A PERFECT PLATFORM

Ryan’s men are Sitting pretty

SITTINGBOURNE are playing their 26th consecutive season at Step 4 – but manager Ryan Maxwell reckons he’s finally found the formula to lift the club to unfamiliar heights.

Maxwell took over at the Brickies last January with the club struggling in the lower reaches of Isthmian South East division, only to steer them to a healthy midtable spot.

Now, in the second phase of his plan, the Northern Irishman has overseen a complete overhaul of the squad and it’s fired the Brickies up to third in the table before this weekend’s matches.

And the former Braintree Town chief believes the Kent side have what it takes to finally get that monkey of promotion off their back.

“We’re in a decent position currently and are reasonably satisfied,” Maxwell told The NLP with his side ten points behind leaders Ramsgate.

“We’ve got 12 games to go, we’re still trying to claim 36 points. First still has to play second, we have to play second, and we need to make sure we’re prepared for anything. There will be twists and turns, maybe on the last game we’ll be in contention to win the league.

“Last season we had a 12down game unbeaten run and finished last season extremely well.

“I love a challenge and agreed to stay at the club when I met the chairman because I believed we could put a realistic threat on being promoted.

“I would love to deliver a promotion for everyone at the club.”

Maxwell puts the Brickies’ success this season to a productive summer of recruitment and has praised the impact his new signings have made.

Impetus

“We’ve only got four players that were here from last season still with us,” he adds. “We’ve done a very thorough job in recruitment and we changed the catchment area to help convince new players to join.

“I signed players who have played for me at Step 2 and 3, and I’ve signed players who have a good pedigree at Step 4, the squad has a good blend of youth and experience.

“We’ve got a real front foot emphasis at the club and I think that’s what we try to embody every week. We train a certain way and we play a certain way, we approach every game to win it, I’ve played two up front, three at the back, and I give us the impetus to try and win the game.”

At the same time, however, Maxwell also acknowledges the importance of Sittingbourne’s vibrant youth section, loyal fanbase and improving infrastructure in turning around the club’s fortunes.

“The chairman and vice chairman do a wonderful job,” he pointed out. “There’s a lot of talk regarding a new ground which is through the second hurdle with the council, and that can only help on the community side with the youth section growing.

“We had 350 fans for our last home game, which has increased dramatically since I took over. It shows the club is heading in the right direction.”