DON’T TALK to Johnson Hippolyte about putting his feet up in the summer – the Staines Town boss says it’s getting busier and harder than ever.
Like all Non-League managers, Hippolyte is in the middle of a hectic off-season of phone calls and signings as he looks to put together a Swans squad capable of a Bostik Premier promotion push.
Ben Martin and Lewis Driver have already signed on and although he accepts his resources are dwarfed by other clubs in the division, he doesn’t want to set his sights low.
“It’s busier than in the season,” Hippolyte said. “I’m getting ten calls a day from people wanting to come in on trial, from all walks of life. It’s all trying to get a squad together – keep the ones you want and bring in the right ones to strengthen.
“But it’s getting harder and harder. There’s more and more teams throwing money at it. Even at this level so it’s very difficult.
Balance
“I normally like to get 90 per cent of my business done by the end of the season. It’s getting more difficult to compete with these so-called bigger clubs with bigger budgets.
“When you’re speaking to them, they’re speaking to five different clubs and you can’t always compete. So sometimes you have to wait, which is not ideal, but it is what it is. We’ll keep ducking and diving and see where we are.
“Budget-wise we should be where we were last year, which is around mid-table. But if I can get the one or two I need to strengthen, I want to be around the play-offs. We lost one in 14 at the end of last season. We need to start the new season in the same vein.
“If we can, we’ll be in and around it. We need to get that 20-goal striker everyone wants and then I hope we’re not too far away.”
Hippolyte – known as Drax – has form when it comes to finding talented frontmen. He had DJ Campbell under his tutorship at Yeading before the striker went on to play in the Premier League.
But he says finding a hidden gem isn’t getting any easier either.
“I can’t shop in Harrods so I’ve got to try Iceland! It’s trying to find that gem again,” he said. “An Alex Wall, a Richard Pacquette – a young, hungry player who wants to come in and do well.
“Everybody is out scouting and looking for players so it’s harder to find that unearthed diamond. But when I do, I know how to polish them! That gets me a few phone calls and agents wanting to send players down, so that helps.”
Hippolyte’s team will join back up in early July before a pre-season schedule that will put them up against former clubs Maidenhead United and Aldershot as well as last season’s National League South surprise package Hungerford.
“We’ve got a good mix with higher teams as well as local teams,” he said. “We think we’ve got the balance right. I remember at Yeading we drew with Watford’s first team, beat QPR’s first team and drew with Reading. Then we lost the first three games of the season! So it’s getting right. Although we did win the league in the end that year – it just wasn’t the start we wanted!”
