South Shields 'working hard' ahead of busy summer of transfers

South Shields manager Elliott Dickman has revealed attempts to boost his squad in preparation for next season are already well underway.

Dickman endured a challenging first full season in charge at the 1st Cloud Arena that ended with the Mariners sat just four places about the National League North relegation zone following a run of seven defeats in their last nine games of the campaign.

Some major decisions have already been taken after the likes of long-serving defender Dillon Morse, goalkeeper Myles Boney and academy graduates Bryan Taylor and Joao Gomes were released. Loan signings Alfie Myers-Smith, Dylan Stephenson and Tom Allan have returned to Middlesbrough, Dagenham and Redbridge and Gateshead respectively and centre-back Tom Broadbent has confirmed he has decided to retire.

Replacements have already been identified and Dickman has confirmed the Mariners are talking to potential additions to his ranks as he looks to move on from a disappointing first season.

He told The Gazette: “We’ve been working behind the scenes for a long period now and we have a list of players we are talking to. Hopefully, if it works out in our favour and they decide to come to us then great, but if not we have contingency plans in place with other options if we need to use them. We want our main targets, we want them to be part of our plans here because we want to improve, we want to get stronger in all areas and ensure we are ready to push on when pre-season gets underway.”

“We need to better”

The departure of Boney, Broadbent and Morse means South Shields will focus on adding to their goalkeeping and defensive ranks during the summer. Dickman has already revealed academy graduates James Sloan and Kyle Seymour have been offered new contracts and the latter was warned he will face competition for the number one shirt if or when he returns to pre-season training in July.

The move to improve Dickman’s defensive options seems an obvious one after his side conceded 73 goals in their 46 league games last season and that meant they had a worse defensive record than Warrington Town, who ended the campaign sat second from bottom in the National League North table.

Dickman admitted his side will need a change in mindset if they are to improve next season and is adamant they will become ‘harder to play against’ when the new campaign gets underway.

“The overriding emotion from last season is that there some highs but there were far too many lows - and that is something that needs to change,” explained the former Newcastle United and Sunderland academy manager.

“We need to better when we don’t have the ball, with the ball we have done well, but we have lost games that we shouldn’t be losing and we’ve been too open in games. So we need that mindset to cherish a clean sheet and cherish the defensive side of the game because with the players we have and the ones we want to bring in, we are confident we can play the style of football we want but also be more solid and be harder to play against.”

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