Faversham joint-boss Phil Miles on Matt Bourne, striker trialists & Ashley Miller's exit
Published: 00:00, 29 June 2019
Joint-manager Phil Miles believes people have been quick to write off Faversham this summer.
The club continued their revamp this week by tying down popular defender Matt Bourne for another season.
Ashley Miller, meanwhile, has headed for the exit after he turned down the chance to stay at Town in favour of joining Ramsgate.
Miles said: “We were waiting for him (Bourne) to make his decision and thankfully he’s decided to stay. We’re pleased because with Matt staying that’s made us stronger.
“Because so many players have left I think people think we’re not going to be able to compete in this league.
“But with the players we have got coming training and the players that have committed for this year, we’re pleased with the way things are going.
“It’s been slower than other clubs but we knew it would be.
“Ashley called us last week and told us he’d made a decision to move on to Ramsgate.
“Players have to make their own minds up and their own decisions, but for me personally if I was a player at Ramsgate you’re wondering whether you are going to get the game time you’d get at another club. That’s down to the individual player to decide.
“Ashley knows there’s going to be competition and he’s happy to go down there and fight for his place. We’re disappointed because Ashley is a really good player, he’d play every week for us.
“We know we need to get a few younger players with legs up top, but we’re more than happy with the way things have gone so far.
“We’ve got that nice blend of age and experience and also it’s within our budget.
“We won’t be cutting the budget if we get knocked out of cup competitions or at Christmas and that’s what these clubs do.
“They front-load their budget at the start of the year to attract players and historically clubs at this level then start cutting the wage bill.
“We’re hoping to add another two or three to the squad before the start of the season.”
Faversham will look at trialists across pre-season as they seek to strengthen in attacking areas.
Miles added: “We’ve got a few centre-forwards coming down, people that have contacted us and said they’d like to come down on trial so we’ll see whether they’re good enough to play at this standard.
“They’re just coming out of their academies, they’re 19/20-years-old. One was released from Gillingham about six months ago, he went out of the country and has come back now.
“They’re good young lads, they’re coming into men’s football and trying to find their feet.
“There are a couple of unknowns and there’s a couple from distance as well that have contacted us. We’re hoping we can find two or three that are willing to come and play for us each week.”
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Cameron Hogwood