Steve Watt is happy to carry on as Hythe boss despite a budget cut.

Watt has kept his squad together - bar Kane Phillip, who’s been offered a better deal by Sheppey - and that was ultimately what mattered when it came to deciding his future.

He said: “I just needed to know where we were with budgets.

“I’ve had to clear everyone out and rebuild once before and I didn’t really want to do that again.

“The budget’s been cut but we’ve kept the squad together apart from Kane but he couldn’t turn down what was on offer at Sheppey. I told him that, I said you’ve got to take that.

“There seems to be a lot of clubs spending money.

“I don’t know if that’s from people saving money during the time we weren’t playing, or sponsorship deals, or whatever, but I can’t concern myself with that. I’m only worried about my own club.”

With the likes of Alex Brown, Frannie Collin, Darren Oldaker and Alex Flisher on board, the Cannons are in good shape.

Players are loyal to Watt and that can often override money.

“I’m sure there has been interest in our players,” said the manager. “I don’t necessarily get to hear about it but I don’t doubt there has been.

“People think they know what my players earn but they don’t. The players are happy playing for me.”

Oldaker was announced as a Welling player last month, having had a brief spell there at the end of last season after Hythe’s Isthmian South East campaign was suspended.

The midfielder, who played for Wings boss Steve Lovell at Gillingham, was quick to set the record straight and reaffirm his commitment to Hythe.

“It was a funny one,” said Watt. “I’m not really sure what happened there.

“Obviously he played for Loves at Gillingham and went there after we stopped playing.

“They put out that he’d signed for them but it was all cleared up quickly. These misunderstandings happen in football sometimes.”

Hythe have signed centre-back Cameron Reardon. He played for East Grinstead last season and has also featured for Greenwich.

Hythe started their pre-season campaign with a 1-1 draw at K Sports on Saturday. It was good workout for the Cannons, with Watt also taking the opportunity to look at some trialists.

Their next friendly is at Deal Town on Tuesday night.

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