By Matt Badcock
As Macclesfield Town celebrated becoming National League champions on Eastleigh's pitch, Spitfires boss Andy Hessenthaler spoke of using the scenes as motivation.
Rather than hosting a promotion party in their own back yard, Hessenthaler wants the south-coast club to have one of their own.
The quest for that is well underway. The squad met for pre-season on June 25 with the management staff determined to get plenty of preparation in before the August 4 kick-off.
Of course, it hasn't all been plain sailing at the Silverlake Stadium since the curtain came down on the 2017-18 campaign.
Chairman Stewart Donald, who had ploughed a small fortune into Eastleigh both on and off the field since 2010, left to take over at Sunderland, fresh from relegation to League One.
The businessman sold his stake to existing board members and while Hessenthaler says the landscape has shifted, they still have a competitive budget and high hopes.
“We're getting on with it,” Hessenthaler told The NLP. “Things have changed here, definitely, but not massively. The guys that have taken over are people the previous chairman knows, he's brought in good people who are right behind the club.
“We know our limitations, we know the budget, we know what we've got to work to.
“But I'm happy with the squad we've got – we've got a good mix this year. I brought in four players – three 24-year-olds and one 27-year-old. I felt last year our average age was too high, so it's nice to bring some younger legs into the squad. They've got National League experience and they are a good age, that's the key for me.
“It's a fantastic club. I've worked at League level, worked in the Championship for Gillingham, been at Leyton Orient, and this club is all geared (to that). It's got the infrastructure. The chairman has left a fantastic football club and we're all geared to get into the Football League.
Ambitions
“That's our aim at the start of this season. Our remit last year was to get in the top seven and we've got to look to try and do that this year. Let's get in the top seven and see where we go from there.”
Hessenthaler started last season as assistant to Richard Hill, who later moved into a director of football role and is now at Sunderland with Donald.
The former Dover Athletic, Gillingham and Leyton Orient boss – who has Ben Strevens in the dug-out alongside him – concedes the club underachieved last season with a 14th-place finish.
“We changed our back five probably once every two weeks through injuries and suspensions, that didn't help and so it proved in the end,” the boss said.
“Our goals against was one of the worst in the league so we need to address that this year. We've definitely got goals in the team, we were among the top for goals scored last year, but I just think the consistency of picking the team on a regular basis didn't help us.
“If you look at Macclesfield last season, their back five was pretty much consistent. That does help. Hopefully we can get a bit of consistency to that starting XI.”
England C international Alex Wynter has signed with former Maidstone team-mate Josh Hare, as have Woking's Joey Jones and ex-Yeovil midfielder Oscar Gobern.
Hessenthaler hopes the mix of youth and if they can keep the experienced players like defenders Reda Johnson and Ryan Creswell fit, then they can get off to a much better start this term.
How a team leaves the blocks is always important with the opening month of the National League season relentless from the gun.
“It's full on but I'm excited by it,” Hessenthaler said. “The boys are working well, we've got a good atmosphere around the place.
“We can't now go out and just get players willy-nilly, we can't do that – the club has changed on that front. Over the last two or three years they've been able to get players quite comfortably.
“We know our limitations on the budget, we're probably over-budget at the moment and we need to work on that to get it down a bit, but we are running with a small squad.
“We've got some youngsters coming through the system, which is promising, and if we can lean on them, and not have to get players in on loan, that will be better for the football club.”
