Rebels Squad Taking Shape

Football for me is about winning and progression - and always will be - and I will always aim high. Settling for mid table comfort is not for me or the players I have brought to our club, and never will be. Steve Bateman I have deliberately remained fairly silent during the close season so everyone could enjoy a break and reflect on two seasons of near misses regarding our play-off achievements but ultimate failure to get out of this division.

But we are only two weeks from returning to pre-season training on Saturday 2nd July so it's appropriate I update you all with what is happening with the players and our aims for the season ahead.

I will make no apologies for stating my aim is promotion and I have read with interest that I should be more low key about our ambitions and being public about them. Football for me is about winning and progression - and always will be - and I will always aim high. Settling for mid table comfort is not for me or the players I have brought to our club, and never will be. I'll make no apology for my ambition as it is what drives me to be involved and when that leaves me I will be the first person to inform our Chairman.

I believe we have progressed in the two full seasons I have been in charge and I'm certain we'll work even harder as a group this season to achieve the promotion we crave.

I am confident we will benefit from greater continuity this season and I have supplemented that with the return of Nathan Bowden-Haase and the signing of Alex Brown from Walton Casuals, a 6'6" centre back, so we can bolster our defence and look to be harder to play against.

I am in discussion with three or four other players and we have a number of players who want to join pre season training and earn themselves a chance to be part of our plans for next season.

There will also be an opportunity for one or two of our youngsters to step up and show they are worthy of a place in the team. David Woozley will captain the team this season and will also become involved with some of the coaching as well.

I read that Simon Sweeney has retired - news to me and to him and we had a chuckle about it between us last week. Simon had surgery on his troublesome bone growth around his ankle this week and will certainly feature again this season and be fit to start the season but will start his pre-season preparations under the watchful eye of Kev McGoldrick.

Adam Martin will have surgery on his knee issue on 28th June so will start pre-season late, playing a bit of catch-up, but we haven't ruled him out yet for playing a prominent part next season. I am a big fan of Adam and hope we can see him in a Slough shirt regularly next season.

Rob Bullivant will not feature at the start of the season as he seeks to prove his fitness following his knee problem but he is someone I will keep tabs on as there is no doubt he is a top keeper when fully fit, something we never saw in the period with us although he worked very hard to make it so. Charlie Fanner and Jamie Jackson are both fully fit after injury and will battle it out for the number one jersey.

So many of your favourites remain, some additions have been made and others will be confirmed. Pre Season games are scheduled and a programme to get our players fit is in place.

I had a call from the St. Neots manager this week, who said "it's us or you then this season for the title?" Well, I hope he is right and I know we'll give it a good go and if it has to be the play offs again then lets hope we can play in them with a fully fit squad and be free of any controversy from officials.

I will update you again as soon as there is more to say when pre-season is underway. I hope to see many of you on 9th July at Crawley Green when we come up against Salts and Keano and also when we become Windsor FC's first ever opponents at Stag Meadow.