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Few managers probably wanted last season to end as much as James Collins.
The Faversham boss took over at Salters Lane in November but it’s never easy coming into a club mid-season.
Even Collins - who admitted “it was a slog” - wasn’t happy with what was delivered on the pitch.
“I didn’t feel we had a settled team,” he reflected. “When you go to a new club, you want to impress everyone. But if I was on the committee or a Faversham supporter, then I wouldn’t have been impressed.
“It happened to me before at Chatham when I took over mid-season. That first year we were dire at the end of it but we won two cups the next season. It’s about the bigger picture and looking long term.
“We’ve also used a lot of the time to work with the under-18s and to build a link to the under-23s and a spirit within the group. Plus it has allowed me to get other players in.”
For last weekend’s FA Cup win over Eastbourne Town, only keeper Luke Watkins and Donvieve Jones were in the starting line-up from the players Collins inherited at the club. It’s safe to say that this time it will be a Faversham team with Collins’ stamp firmly on the squad.
Some do remain from Collins' first season, though. Defender Lewis Chambers has made the step up to vice-captain, while Collins will hope for big things from the likes of Kelvin Ogboe who came in from VCD and former Bearsted man Emmanuel Oluwasemo. All three impressed at the back end of the last campaign.
“I probably brought in nine or 10 players last year but it didn’t work out for all of them,” said Collins.
“It enabled me to identify players, we’ve got a young squad that want to play at this level. We’ve settled into pre-season and you can see the progress. I think we will get better as we go along.”
Not many will fancy Faversham to punch above their weight but Collins will always start a new campaign with the same goal – regardless of the competition.
“My objective is always to win the league,” he said. “When I was at Corinthian, I had no budget but got them up to third when I left. When I was at Lordswood, I got them up to fourth.
“I always set my sights high and I think most sides in the division probably think they’ve got a chance of reaching the play-offs.
“My main objective is to win every game. You won’t win every game, but that’s the objective.”
Corinthian were due to start their Isthmian South East campaign at Guernsey on Saturday. But their opponents have taken a year out of the league due to the Covid travel restrictions – and will return to the division for the 2021/22 season.
“I can’t see how they were going to make it work so I don’t think there was any other way around it,” said Collins, who will use his blank weekend to watch FA Cup opponents Carshalton, whom Faversham visit on Monday in the First Qualifying Round.
First four league games: Sat Sep 26: Hastings (h), Sat Oct 3: Sittingbourne (a), Tue Oct 6: Cray Valley (a), Sat Oct 10: Sevenoaks (h).
