ROGER HERRIDGE is confident Binfield will be competitive once again in the Hellenic Premier Division, despite losing six key men from last season.
The Moles ended the 2016/17 campaign eighth in the table and have seen a number of players walk away from the club over the summer.
Boss Herridge had expected interest in star striker Liam Ferdinand and midfielder Harrison Bayley and both have joined league rivals Bracknell Town and Thatcham Town respectively.
But a number of surprise departures has left the Binfield side looking very different to how it did in May.
Liam Vaughan, who was in line to become the Moles first choice goalkeeper this year, has opted to link up with Basingstoke’s Under-21 side after fellow goalkeeper Mo Nyamunga moved to Badshot Lea.
And with Michael Walton, Alex Luis and Alex Walton also deciding to take a break from football, five of last season’s top 10 appearance makers are no longer at the club.
“The bigger clubs in the league with the bigger resources are always going to want your best players,” Herridge told The Wokingham Paper.
“That was the case with Liam (Ferdinand) and Harry (Bayley) and that’s no different to last year when Josh Howell went to Thatcham and Carl Withers went to Bracknell.
“That’s not an indication on me as a manager or Binfield as a football club.
“Players want to enjoy their football, and I think they all did at Binfield and under my management, but ultimately they want to win things and those guys perceive Bracknell and Thatcham to have a better chance of winning the league.
“On paper, it’s hard not to agree with them.
“We’re not singing from the same hymn sheet. It’s not a level playing field in terms of resources that are available to put a squad together.
“We live within our means.
“We’re no different from any other club really. Whether you finish where we are in the league, bottom or top of the table, there’s always players that are there one year and not the next.”
One man Herridge feels may have made a mistake in leaving Binfield is goalkeeper Vaughan.
The youngster came through the Moles youth system, made his first team debut last year and was expected to be given the chance to be this season’s first choice stopper, only to catch Herridge off guard and complete a switch to Basingstoke.
“I’m disappointed to lose Liam,” said the manager.
“One minute you’re having a conversation talking about giving him a chance of being my number one and then in the next breath he’s moved to Basingstoke.
“He’s a great lad and I’m certainly not going to knock him. He’s got the potential to be a really, really good goalie.
“But for me, in terms of his development, he would’ve been better off playing step five football than going to play for Basingstoke U21s.
“They are a bigger club and play a couple of levels above us. If he gets the opportunity to play in the first team or sit on the bench then it’s a great decision for him.
“If he doesn’t, then it’s probably not a good one.
“The younger generation these days are always looking for something better but that’s just the way it is.
“I respect all their decisions (of those who have left).
“We move on and we concentrate on the players that do want to play and do want to be at the football club.”
Binfield played two more friendlies over the weekend as part of Bracknell’s pre-season tournament at Larges Lane.
The hosts emerged victorious while the Moles finished third after beating Eversley and California 1-0 and Saturday and then Wokingham and Emmbrook 4-2 on Sunday.
And despite the departures, Herridge is still happy with the squad he has got and is buoyed by the potential of some of his new arrivals.
“I’m happy defensively and I think we’ve got good options through midfield,” he said.
“We’ve had some good wide players playing in the friendlies.
“I’m really excited about a boy who played all his football last year in our development team, Clive Akem-Che, who I think could really step up and turn a few heads this year.
“In terms of forwards, the fact is Ferdi (Liam Ferdinand) is going to be a big loss. He scored the lion’s share of our goals last year and we need to find goals from other areas.
“We’ve still got Brad (Pagliaroli), Sean Moore, Kempy (Grant Kemp) and I’m certainly interested in signing Danny Langford, who played in one friendly for us, and Joe Grant, who played at Highmoor Ibis at the end of last season.
“A week is a long time in football.
“If I had to start today, we would be able to put a competitive team out that’s for sure.”
