Gaffer pleased to have ambitious Lancashire onboard
Micky Mellon is pleased to have landed his first signing as he looks to strengthen his Town squad ahead of the 2016/17 Sky Bet League 1 campaign.The Gaffer has spoken about the need to add players with League 1 experience and with recent spells with Walsall and Rochdale Lancashire fits that bill.
With the retain list out and the addition of Olly Town fans can start to see the type of squad that the manager is bringing together.
“With bringing Olly in I think people will see what I mean when I said that at the end of the season the type of profile of the lads we bring in we want lads that have played a lot of games in League One and are at a good age like Olly is”, said Micky.
“He is massively ambitious and will be able to get on the grass every day and train. We had a problem last year when we couldn’t get everyone on the pitch for different reasons but the recruitment will try and do it.
“It is never absolutely the way you want it but if possible we want a young group full of ambition that can train every day and we can work with them on the grass every day and Olly fits that profile. He has played loads of games in League One and has been a very good player so I am delighted to bring him as the first signing of the summer.
“I am trying to bring that initial group with that kind of profile and we are working hard to bring that type of player to the club because it was difficult last year initially and we tried to recruit in a way that we knew that the players could handle League One because it is a big step up. Olly certainly fits that profile and all the players we are trying to bring in will also fit that profile so that is the lines that we want to go along.”
Town’s squad was quite large come the end of the season and the gaffer is looking to start next term with a smaller one. After Town were promoted last season a number of players were already under contract so Town started the season with a large squad.
“When you are dealing with coming up a division it was always going to be that way and we expected that”, said Micky.
“In an ideal world we would like a smaller group of players with no injuries and who were available every day and every weekend in order to keep the size of the squad that little bit smaller.
“It would be good for team spirit as everyone feels involved so for a whole number of reasons yes in an ideal world we would prefer a smaller squad but let’s see if the world remains ideal as the season gets going. “