Warrington Rylands caretaker manager Jody Banim says they have been actively looking to make additions to the squad following their dismal FA Trophy exit.
Northern Premier League West outfit Colne fired five unanswered goals past last season’s champions as the Blues were dumped out of the competition.
Banim admitted that they are close to welcoming a host of additions as the squad switch-up continues following his two-month stint in charge.
Speaking to Off The Park, the former Ashton United boss revealed their reaction to the defeat: “I think we spent all week and immediately in the aftermath of the game reflecting on it, figuring out the reason for the performance.
“It was an awful start to the game, first couple of minutes conceding, we gave the ball away from kick-off and it snowballed from there really. I don’t think anyone, including myself comes away with any great credit.
“It’s about recognising where we’ve gone wrong, what needs to change, we’ve given the players plenty of opportunities since we’ve come in.
“We’ve changed nine players from the squad, and not one of those players we’ve released has gone to the same level, they’ve gone down a league or two leagues below in some cases so we’ve recognised straight away big changes needed to be made.
“We’ve tried to make those systematically but I think looking at it from Saturday it’s completely unacceptable and we have to make further changes to the playing squad.
“We’re trying to at the minute, we’ve got a couple of deals which are just getting over the line today which will be able to play tomorrow, we’re looking to do a couple of deals on top of that today,” he continued.
“That’s how we’ve reacted to it, we go and get some players in who are capable of fighting, we’re a bit of a soft touch at this moment in time, when anyone puts us under pressure we have to dig in and show heart, we’ve been found wanting really, we need to correct that and I believe we need to go outside the group to do that.”
Banim added that they’re looking to bolster the squad with more experience of playing the level ut insists some fundamentals are still lacking, he added:” We’re looking to bring experience lads in, lads who know they league, we’re looking for that competitive nature, lads who want to do the ugly side as well.
“It’s not all about when you’re going to Nantwich or South Shields and the playing surface is a bowling green, we can play pretty football, it’s when you go to Colne, Lancaster and the pitch that isn’t great and you’ve got an opposition team, who ability-wise on your level will outwork and outfight you, I think that’s the type of character we need to bring in.
“We’ve got really nice footballers, all top lads, we’ve got a great dressing room but I think we’re missing those types of characters that will be ugly when needed to, that was abundantly clear on Saturday.
“Apart from Sam Egerton and Dean Furman, we’re not big talkers within the team and we need to bring in communicators as well, that’s what these players and the profiles we’re bringing in will do.”
Following the departure of David McNabb and his management staff, Banim was installed as Warrington Rylands’ caretaker manager.
Two months later, there has been no move to confirm the caretaker boss as the permanent man in charge or an update to provide clarity on the situation in the dugout.
However, Banim detailed some of the internal discussions. He said: “I’ve been told internally that the job is mine, just crack on really, we never really put a label on it apart from ‘go and win us some football matches, stabilise the club’, the wage budget was a little bit over so it was to bring it back down again.
“In the last 10 league games, we’ve lost three, won three, drawn four, I think those four, Atherton was a fair result, I think the other three games we’ve drawn we could’ve won.
“The recent form doesn’t look great, we’ve lost four of the last five, I didn’t think we were a million miles away, there was a few tweaks because the recurring pattern when teams put it on us we’ve struggled to get over the line.
“The board have told me to go win some football matches, I’m not overly concerned what title I’ve got, I’ve got to go do the job they’ve asked me to do which is what I’m doing.”
Their recent league run which has seen defeats to Lancaster City, Matlock Town, South Shields as well as draws with Stafford Rangers, Guiesley and Atherton Collieries.
This weekend, they are looking to pick up their first win since the end of September against a resurgent Whitby Town side.
Whilst he is expecting a difficult encounter, Banim is confident that they can return to winning ways. He concluded: “There’s no easy games at this level in this league, there’s no whipping boys, you see Liversedge getting results, they ran South Shields close a few weeks ago losing to a late goal.
“Belper have changed manager and look more solid so there’s no easy games, it’ll be the same now. Whitby have turned their form around, which I thought they would do anyway, they’ve got good players.
“It will be another tough game for us, hopefully the changes we’re making, we’ve reiterated to our players about competing, winning personal battles and letting the talent come after that.
“First and foremost we have to run more than the opposition, work harder, win our physical battles, we’ve got good footballers and we’ve shown that in patches this season that we are a good footballing side but can we do the other side? That’s what we need to show against Whitby, we’re expecting another tough game but one I’m confident we can win.”
[Featured image: Warrington Rylands – Mark Percy]
