WHITEHAWK have warned they are in it to win it next season – and they won't be letting star striker Danny Mills leave… even if he want to!
Manager Pablo Asensio is in bullish mood and it's not hard to understand why. The Argentinian took over from Steve King in the middle of February with the team marooned in mid-table.
It turned out to be an inspired change as the side shrugged off their poor form and surged into the play-offs – eventually failing to get beyond Ebbsfleet over two legs.
But already he is looking to go one better. Captain Sergio Torres has committed, while midfielder Ahmed Abdulla has returned from Staines Town.
Defender Marvin Hamilton put pen to paper as Frenchman Chris M'Boungou also agreed terms with the Hawks. There's been plenty of transfer tittle-tattle surrounding free scoring striker Mills, but Buenos Aires-born Asensio will not let the 25-goal hitman leave.
He told The NLP: “Danny is signed on for next season – he agreed a two year contract last summer. He won't be going, even if he wants to!
“I understand why people want him but he is our player and he is under contract. He is happy here, I think. He loves the club and likes what we are trying to do.
“I think there are even more good things to come from him and from the team. We want to win the league – that's the aim.
“I think, in this sport, if you don't aim for the top then you are doing something not quite right.
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“Your mentality must be strong. The philosophy is vitally important.”
And it's a system that Asensio wants to keep developing. He has an idea of how he wants Whitehawk to play and, although it will take time, the approach, he says, can work at National League South level.
King's former assistant added: “I want our philosophy to be different. I want us to adopt the South American way of playing. If you like, the Arsenal way. This won't happen just like that, but as a coach that is what we need to build towards and the exciting game that is played in that part of the world.
“It's what I grew up watching, and it is what will suit us. It doesn't matter what level of football you are playing at.
“It's down to me to make sure we have the best possible chance of going forward as a club. Last season it was more about the number of players in our squad and not the quality. We will operate with fewer players but better players next season.”
However, the promotion-chasing Hawks won't have attacker Jake Robinson in their side next season after it was confirmed that the ex-Brighton man would be leaving the Enclosed Ground.
