Q: What does a typical week look like for you? Aside from training and matchdays, is a lot of your time spent attending other matches and scouting?
SK: Yeah, whether they are under 23 games, below our level, our level and sometimes above our level and I cover around 150 games a year. It’s important to keep your finger on the pulse when a player becomes available, you know who he is and you’ve seen him, my week is a seven-day week.
Q: Are you already starting plans for next season with looking at players now coming, and goings and any pre-season games lined up?
SK: We’ve got to wait for the outcome of this season first, which we will find out Monday/Tuesday next week and then we will make our plans off the back of that. If the football does continue, we have gone plan A and plan B for staying in the division or getting promoted.
Q: Is using quite a few loanees a sustainable model? Not necessarily in terms of affordability for the club but for the sake of consistency, ensuring commitment.
SK: I came into the club at not a very good time, it was only going one way and it needed a fresh face, it needed new faces and reignite the fires of the existing players, I couldn’t get players I wanted because they were on contracts elsewhere. I must say the loan market, baring one player, the rest that have come in have been very good. Tyrique Hyde, Amrit Bansal-McNulty have been very good and Jacob Berkeley-Ageypong was exceptional.
Q: What do you think strengths are of the football club? What do you think needs to change to gain promotion and then build a squad to successfully compete in the National League?
SK: I think the club is a very good club, there’s good people, relationships are good, Tony Burman has a great relationship and I have a great relationship with Tony, and everything is in line. I’ve only been here around 5 months; the football has taken care of itself we’ve just got to take one step at a time and see where it takes us.
Q: Since you’ve been in the job we are top of the form guide for the last 10 games, 15 games, 20 games and 25 games, averaging 2 points per game and only Wealdstone the only other side to achieve that, that’s some stat isn’t it?
SK: Yeah, it just goes to show what a job everyone has done, it’s always a massive team effort and from where we were as well, to be on that sort of run, it’s unbelievable stat. Facts and stats don’t lie.
Q: You have turned things around since being here, we are in the play-offs, if the league does get made void due to COVID-19, how do you think the league should end the current season?
SK: If we can play the season out, I’d love to see it, I think even if it’s June, July, August, I do believe the current season should be played out, even if next season it gets pushed on a month. You could even possibly play Saturday, Tuesday for the first 10 weeks of the season instead of the first 6 weeks like they usually do.
Q: Any news on how the players are and yourself, everyone healthy and safe?
SK: Yeah, at the moment, haven’t heard that any of the boys have got COVID-19. I’ve been in touch with the boys regularly over group text, but we are still awaiting what the league are going to do and then we can start planning on what we are going to do.
Q: How would you sum up your reign so far?
SK: I know there was a number of people that didn’t want me at first, but when someone gets you and what you bring, the fans now see all the rubbish that’s been said and done and now they can see someone who’s dedicated and works their socks of and we will only get better as a club, keep coming and tell your friends what we are doing, can we now push on and regularly get 1500 at home next season, it makes a big difference to club financially and I think we are playing enough good football to warrant those sort of crowds.