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As the previous successful season passes us by, it is time to show you the new arrangements for the coming season - Eastleigh's first ever in the Football League.
Earlier in preseason we signed a new £480,000 sponsorship deal which lasts only for this year as well as other smaller deals with local businesses.
Our new kits (below) are also sponsored by British Steel this season as the sponsorship with Utilita expired in the summer. British Steel will be displayed on the front of the new home and away jerseys as well as the goalkeeper's shirts in our debut season in the Football League.
The stadium sponsorship with Silverlake also lasts until 2019 so will expire in the season after this season, meaning potentially more money due to our rise in stature.
But now is the time you've all been waiting for: transfers.
This summer has been an incredibly busy time, especially compared to last season as we prepare ourselves for life in League Two this campaign. No more than fifteen players have come in for this season, with two extending their stay on loan from the previous season.
The first deal we agreed was the extension of
Hakeem Odoffin's loan spell for another year. The right-back was very impressive last season as he was nominated alongside Jake Pickard for the league's Player of the Season. At such a young age, his physicality will go a long way in this division as it did last time around.
Following Odoffin's extension, our first permanent transfer of the window was also for a right-back to challenge Odoffin in the position, as
Lewis Horner made his way down to the coast on a free transfer. At 25 years old, Horner has valuable experience in the top division of Scotland with Hibernian and St. Johnstone.
Thirdly, a deal that I was incredibly proud of pushing through due to other bigger teams reaching for his signing as
Joe Davis joins us on a two-year contract. With plenty of experience of the lower Football League with Port Vale and more recently Fleetwood, the 23 year old has bags of potential to carry us a long way from the centre-back position.
My intention at the start of the transfer window was clearly to enhance the defence that we had, with players going back to their parent clubs or players who were simply not good enough for the step up we needed to strengthen the back four. With plenty of Football League experience arrives
Adam Chicksen with plenty of teams on his CV at the prime age of 25. He is sure to be a starter at the club this season.
This summer I think I grabbed one of the best bargains of the summer in
Younes Bnou Marzouk. The striker, formerly of Juventus is extremely highly rated in this division. The 21-year-old Moroccan has unbelievable pace with a good end product and I am very confident that Bnou Marzouk can win games on his own this season.
We have been quite poor with the goalkeeper that we have had since I joined, with only Graham Stack (who has left) and Ryan Clarke filling the goalposts since I joined. With the arrival of Spaniard
David Armengol I hope that this tradition is wiped away with some great shot-stopping. The 31-year-old kept 13 clean sheets last season as his team - Marino - were promoted out of the Spanish Third Division.
Having spent the past eight years of his life playing in League Two for both Accrington and Carlisle, I expect
Luke Joyce to be a good addition for us. With 292 League Two appearances since 2009 he knows what it takes to be a good midfielder in this league and I intend to use him when we are drawing a match late on in the game, in hope of a winner.
Back to loan deals, we welcome back one of last season's stars as
Jerry Yates returns to Silverlake Stadium for another season on loan. Last season was a very successful experience for Yates as he bagged 15 goals and assisted 12 in just 22 league appearances for Eastleigh. With a familiar face back at the club, I trust Yates to be a match-decider when we need him. At 20 years of age, this is a make or break season as to whether he is up to standard of keeping him at the club permanently with his contract at Rotherham expiring next summer.
Our third and final loan deal of the season so far is the arrival of attacking-midfielder
Harry McKirdy who joins Eastleigh on loan from Aston Villa for the season. Wearing number ten this season, I expect McKirdy to be battling for a starting spot with Tom Rosenthal as we try and push Josh Doughty out of the club due to his lack of ability at this level of the game. McKirdy made his Aston Villa debut last season in a Championship game versus Ipswich Town.
A signing that I am very confident in here, as
Nat Wedderburn joins us following his contract expiration at Dunfermline. Wedderburn has League Two experience with Notts County, Hereford and Northampton which we look to exploit. Playing defensive midfield and standing at 6'4", Wedderburn's tough physique is an outlet we look to utilise in this division as a player who breaks up opposition play, before carrying it forward into our own attack.
Just one of the few foreign signings that I have made this season,
Pablo Vivancos joins us despite having no previous English football experience. I hope that Vivancos can adapt quickly to challenge Wedderburn in that defensive midfield role, as the Argentinian's physical capabilities are something that is useful in such a position.
The most recent foreign signing is the arrival of
Maxime Lemoine as the French winger joins us on a two-year contract. He played football for the first time in three years last season at French side Maubeuge, where he impressed with 18 goals and six assists in 34 matches. A proven goalscorer from the wing is something that we are very lucky to have, it is just a matter of consistency and adaptability to an English lower league he has never played in before.
Since we struggled with a lack of out-and-out wingers last season we had no alternative formation to revert to if it was necessary. With the arrivals of Lemoine and
Tope Obadeyi I hope that we can switch up formations whenever I want as they join the existing wingers, Devarn Green, Calaum Jahradlo-Martin and Mekhi Leacock-McLeod in the ranks. Obadeyi has plenty of experience of this division with loan spells at Rochdale, Shrewsbury, Bury and Plymouth throughout his career which stretches from Bolton all the way to Rio Ave in Portugal.
As we lost a lot of left-back cover in the transfer window, with Tyler Garrett returning to Doncaster and Sam Muggleton and Chinua Cole having their contracts terminated, we brought in Adam Chicksen first, but added experience at left-back with
Joe Martin. 28-year-old Martin played in League Two with Gillingham and was a regular starter for The Gills before joining Millwall in 2015.
With so many wages rising over the £700 per week mark, it was to my surprise that former Cambridge United midfielder
Conor Newton only went for a £250 per week wage - unheard of in this squad unless you were under 20 years old. Newton will have to battle the new arrivals like Vivancos and Wedderburn as well as last seasons players such as Sam Togwell to get his place in the team. With his well-rounded attributes, Newton is a welcome addition into the middle of the park for us this season.
With many youth team players released, there were also twelve first-team players that left the club over the summer.
Darius Henderson and Ben Strevens both retired from football, with Strevens taking up the Under 23 Manager role at Eastleigh immediately after his retirement at 37 years old.
Out on loan all of last season,
David Pipe and Connor Essam were refused new contracts with us as they were found surplus to requirements and on too high wages to keep on the books as back-up players this time around.
Last season's utility players like
James Constable, Jason Taylor, Gavin Hoyte,
Graham Stack, Chinua Cole, Sam Muggleton and Ross Stearn were all released from the club as well, with only Stearn finding a new club since his release.
But perhaps the biggest departure of the window so far was
Dean Hammond, who was released as knee tendonitis ruled the former Southampton midfielder out for 10 months - long enough to force him into an early retirement. Hammond was reportedly on £3,500 per week at Eastleigh, and Liam Knowles did not want to be paying that for Hammond to sit on the sidelines. However, Knowles did offer Hammond the club's medical treatment despite his release. Knowles said in an interview after the departure that he would 'consider' bringing Hammond into the coaching staff after his injury.
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You should apply at Sky for a position!
It was the happiest I've ever felt about a FM game in years! When that final minute goal went in I was way too happy, but yes, delighted with promotion into the FL
Will certainly win us a few headers with them extra inches!
