Alan Devonshire insists the objective is promotion for the forthcoming season, but acknowledges that it will be no easy feat as Maidenhead United embarks on a National League South campaign for the first time in nine years.
Last week, the gaffer discussed the ongoing summer transfer business, noting that it had been trickier to retain key players owing to the drop in division.
“It's like Tristan [Abrahams], you know, he wanted to still play [in the National League],” said Devonshire. “We’ve got Shawn [McCoulsky] who’s gone into the Football League, we’ve got Reece [Smith] that’s going into the League – so there's three players gone straight away who scored a lot of our goals last year.
“It’s more difficult, and I think there's ten full-time clubs in the South. There's lots of teams going for it. We'll have to have a look at it and see how we do. We just hopefully get onto a good start and just take it from there. But it isn’t going to be easy.”
The NLS is an almost unrecognisable league to the one from which United escaped eight years ago. Margate, for example, reside in the Step 4 Isthmian League South East Division these days, while East Thurrock – whom the Magpies crucially beat to build a healthy buffer over Ebbsfleet in April 2017 – no longer exist after going into liquidation two years ago.
Structurally, the league has also changed over the past decade. There are now 24 teams in the division compared to 22, meaning an extra four games per season (and an additional relegation spot). Likewise, the playoff format has since been revamped, with six teams eligible for promotion come the season’s end rather than four.
“I think it’s better,” Devonshire said on the quality differences between 2017’s NLS and the one of today. “I think last year there were about eight clubs that could have got promoted in the last couple of weeks of the season. So, the standard's gone up. As I say, there's ten full-time teams in the league.”
As the name implies, the National League South is regionalised, meaning no overnight trips for the Magpies this season. “It'll be more local, but it's going to be tough,” insists Devonshire. “We know that there's a lot of clubs going for it spending lots of money. So, we'll just have to wait and see.”
The gaffer said that despite being largely over the disappointment of relegation, it “still wrangles” with him, and noted that the buck stops with himself when it comes to the team’s performance. “I'll always blame myself,” Devonshire said. “It's my fault, always. It's, you know, it's down to me. But yeah, we'll just have to see, I've got to wipe that clean now and start again fresh.”
The sheer amount of squad turnover means there will be more players to “bed in” this season, according to the gaffer. While preparations remain largely unchanged no matter the division, Devonshire is looking forward to the new campaign.
“Well, the aim is to try and get promoted. That's the aim. That would be what we want,” Devonshire said. “So, I think it's top seven or top eight. You need to be amongst that, but [we need] to just get a settled side together and hopefully build on what we’ve done over the years.”
It’s a resounding final statement from the manager as our interview draws to a close.
“I want to try and get back to where I think we belong.”
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