Moors boss Graeme Lee provides another update for fans as preparations for 2024/25 go up a gear ahead of the squad’s imminent return to pre-season training.

Hello, everyone – and welcome back to my Summer Blog here on the Official Website.

I trust you’re all still enjoying your summer break and a big thank you to those of you who have given us your support by snapping up Season Tickets for 2024/25.

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If you didn’t see the news, the Club has now extended the Early Bird until the end of the month so if you can manage to get a Season Ticket then we would all very much appreciate your backing.

I am pretty pleased with the work we’ve been able to do to improve the squad so far this summer. There’s still work going on, of course, but I think we have built a pretty good core now and it’s just about finishing that off now in the coming weeks.

We’ve got one more deal agreed with another player who is going to be coming in but he’s still away on holiday at the moment, and that takes us up to 15.

It’s perhaps been more work than we thought it was going to be having lost a few players, but we feel as though we are bringing in a lot of lads who are hungry, local and are going to develop into big assets within the squad.

I am very pleased with the situation. We’ve had to be patient with certain positions, and we still are. There are a couple of positions I want to fill with the right ones, so we haven’t jumped too early on those, but we’re getting somewhere close to what we were last year.

We have a few finishing touches on the defensive side and we’re aware of those areas that still need some work but, like I say, we’ve been patient because we know that the spine of the team is vital.

I have had regular discussions with the Chairman all the way through this process and one of the main things was that we wanted local players, if possible, to come in and represent the Club. We have been trying to get lads who know the area and are hungry to develop and improve.

Clearly, we’re fighting against a few teams in our region and also some teams in the leagues below who can throw some good money around. You have to be patient, do your due diligence and make sure that the players you bring in are going to add something to the squad and the team. I certainly feel like the ones we have got in already are exciting and I can’t wait to get working with them.

We’re back in for pre-season training next Thursday so it comes around quickly. I am sure all the lads are nice and refreshed and raring to go again – especially those who were with us last year and were part of how well we finished the season. Hopefully they’re all looking forward to it!

In all honesty, I hated pre-season as a player – but I love pre-season now! Haha! I was not a runner and out of season I would work very hard, look after myself and get in the best possible shape just so I could keep up with the pack! Managers were probably looking at it and as the other lads around me got fitter, I probably looked like I was getting worse!

Things have evolved from just slogging players in pre-season, but we will be down to Castle Eden at least once for a run around in the Dene! There is a little bit of room for everything, and I think sometimes in pre-season the test is as much a mental one as it is physical, so we’ll give them various challenges. There’ll be all sorts of things going on to get them conditioned and ready to go because we’re in a competitive division and we need to make sure we’re in top shape.

I know this is a good group though. The lads we had last year are all fit lads who look after themselves and will do their own work in the summer. The ones we’ve brought in understand that work ethic too, know what it takes and seem very dedicated and hungry so hopefully we’re hitting the right balance because that’s what we’ll be looking for.

In amongst the recruitment and the pre-season planning, I have managed to catch a bit of the Euros on the television, and I’ve been enjoying it. I think, like everyone else, Germany stood out in their first game against Scotland, although they only beat Hungary 2-0 and conceded a few chances in that game. They have some exciting players though and will be a threat.

I think we all get excited by international football even though it’s not quite the Premier League sort of standard. England have a great deal of world class players at their disposal and started off very well against Serbia, but they pinned us back in the second half and we had to defend well for the result we needed.

On Thursday night, it was a frustrating watch against Denmark, wasn’t it? With that talent we have in the squad, we just seemed to lack intensity in and out of possession and then that leads to the sloppiness on the ball we saw. Both opponents we’ve played look like they knew how to play against us and were effective in doing it for the most part and I can’t really remember anyone running in behind until Ollie Watkins was brought on.

I suppose the positive is that we’ve still picked up two results and are sitting top of the group so we just have to cross our fingers that we can step it up a level against Slovenia in the final game.

Enjoy the Euros and I will be back with another update soon.

Graeme.