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Hakan Hayrettin hopes he has won over the Maidstone fans who wanted him out last season.
Hayrettin faced sack calls after his first game as John Still’s successor ended in a 3-0 defeat at Eastbourne.
Some supporters seemed unwilling to give him a chance to step out of Still’s shadow but when the season was curtailed by coronavirus two days later, it eased the immediate pressure on Hayrettin and bought him time to do things his way.
He worked tirelessly to build a squad in his mould, on a greatly reduced budget, and Maidstone sit in the National South play-off places after 10 matches.
They face a spell out of action after positive Covid-19 tests were announced last night.
But Hayrettin has come a long way since that grim afternoon at Eastbourne in March.
He said: “It got announced in the week that I was going to be taking over and, yes, I got a little bit of stick at Eastbourne, which is normal, it comes with the territory, but I think we’re in a good place now.
“Finance has been difficult, we’ve had to cut our cloth accordingly, but, yes, I think we have turned it around.
“I think we’ve got a squad that’s better than last season, I think we’ve got a team that’s better than last season, I think we’ve got individuals who are better than last season, and we’re doing OK.
“I’ve been doing this job a long time, I think I’ve got 600 games under my belt and you’re never going to make everyone happy.
“If you make the majority happy you’re on to a good start.
“The most important thing is you get your players on side.”
Maidstone transfer-listed five of their summer signings less than two months into last season.
Hayrettin accepts mistakes were made, so it was vital to get the recruitment right this time.
He said: “I think last season some of our personalities and characters in our changing room were weak, they weren’t right for our club and that happens sometimes, and that was the most frustrating thing for me.
“This season we’ve got less of that, you may have one or two that will waver, but I’ve told them, you can’t be fractured, you’ve got to be all together in what you’re going to do.
“We win together, we lose together, we can’t have fractures in the squad and that’s vitally important to anyone’s success.
“In my time of managing and playing, what I’ve found when I have had success, we haven’t had any fractures within in the squad.
“Everyone evaluates success differently. Our remit was to get through this season but as a manager you want to do the best you possibly can.
“There’s no secret here, we’ve had our budget slashed, drastically, but I still think we’ve got a squad that’s capable of doing some good things.
“Fair play to the owners. They supported me in what I wanted to do and we’re doing OK at the moment.
“It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon and we’re in the pack.
“We’ve dropped silly points but we’re up there for a reason.
“People are going to be jockeying but as long as we’re focused we’ll be fine.
“I just really hope we can get our supporters back in, especially so some of these players can witness it, because it’s a buzz playing in front of them.”
