News from Grantham Town FC..... Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Premier Division Grantham Town joint managers Gary Sucharewycz and Ian Robinson have again picked up a Blue Square North experienced player released by Boston United. Joining centre half Paul Lister at the Meres next season will be goalkeeper Dan Haystead after he also agreed terms with the Gingerbreads. “Dan was released by Boston for the same reasons as Paul Lister.” Said Sucharewycz. “A new manager brought in his own player and Dan was surplus to requirements. I’ve known Dan since I was captain at Hucknall and he played there. He brings a lot of experience with him and is prepared to fight for the number 1 shirt.” Stepping down a level of football and joining a side which has an established custodian between the sticks is not something that Sucharewycz expects to be an issue for Haystead. The 27 year old former Ilkeston, Hucknall and Boston stopper is looking forward to playing at Grantham. “Dan is looking forward to playing for a club with the facilities and fans we have at Grantham.” Sucharewycz said. “His experience has given him the right approach to bring, that there is no guarantee of number 1 despite his experience over Jake’s youth. Both have an equal chance of wearing the shirt on August 17th.” Signing Haystead does mean that Sucharewycz and Robinson had to release James Martin from the club,. Sucharewycz said that it was not an easy decision for the Grantham pair. “We could only keep one of James or Jake.” Sucharewycz explained. “Both have taken their chances for us and played really well and it was not easy. At the end of the day, it came down to the performances Jake put in over the last few games of the season. We know James will do well at this level in the future and possibly higher, if the circumstances at the end of last season had turned out differently, it is possible that we would have kept him. Hard decisions like this are what comes with managing a football team.” The Grantham joint manager went on to outline his and Robinsons’ philosophy behind their goalkeeping choices. Keeping two quality goalkeepers at the Meres is something the pair feel is vital to success in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Premier Division. “We were very impressed with Jake in the last few games of the season.” Sucharewycz reiterated. “We need to have two keepers vying for the number 1 shirt at this level of football and both of them are prepared to do that at Grantham. They need to work together closely to improve each others game and fight it out across the season.” The Gingerbreads managerial duo have also settled a deal with one more player from last years’ squad, but at the same time released a couple who might have stayed had their squad choices for next season been different. “Adie Hawes has signed, but we have also let Tommy Hannigan and Danny Elliott go.” Sucharewycz said. “Adie is another strong experienced signing. He has had a lot of clubs chasing him and wanted to think about things before committing himself. We are delighted to have him back for another season and need the competition for places that he, Deon Meikle and Paul Lister will have.” Hannigan and Elliott had both agreed terms for next season after impressing Sucharewycz and Robinson in the run-in to the end of last season, but with a number of new players joining the squad, the Grantham managerial duo felt they had to let a couple of players go. “we are going to run next season with a slightly smaller, but more experienced squad.” Sucharewycz explained. “Both Tommy and Danny impressed us when they came into games at the back end of the season. Neither let s down in any way when we asked them tto play. Both wanted to stay and given the opportunity, we would have kept them. However, we have to put the best squad out we can within our resources and couldn’t keep everyone. Both players understand the situation and we wish them well for their future.” With only a couple of weeks to go until pre-season training starts, Robinson and Sucharewycz are not too far away from where they want to be with their squad building and re-shaping. “So far, we are really happy with where we are.” Sucharewycz said. “We are still talking to a few people and may see one, maybe two more signings before we start training on June 25th.”
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 08:53:27 +0000
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