Pic: Nicky Hayes
BILLERICAY TOWN'S ambitious owner and manager Glenn Tamplin reckons he has put together “the best Non-League team in the world” after a raft of impressive signings.
The steel tycoon, who had already brought in former England international Paul Konchesky and ex-Premier League midfielder Jamie O'Hara, has further strengthened the Blues both on an off the pitch, raising their wage bill to £25,000 a week.
Former Leyton Orient and Barnet boss Ian Hendon has joined as director of football while MMA fighter Neil ‘Goliath' Grove will become the club's nutritionist and sports scientist.
Tamplin says he expects Town to win the Ryman Premier and break records next year and has brought in a number of top Non-League players to make promotion a reality.
Boreham Wood defender Matt Paine signed up last week and he's been joined by fellow National League players Ricky Modeste and Robbie Evans at New Lodge.
Winger Modeste helped Dover reach the play-offs in 2015-16 but rejected a new deal while Evans, skipper of Wrexham, was surprisingly released.
Louie Theophanous, a consistent goalscorer at Step 2, has put pen to paper after suffering play-off heartache with Chelmsford City and fellow attacker Dan Walker, formerly of Aldershot and Hemel Hempstead, also joins.
Former Dulwich Hamlet midfielder Danny Waldren and ex-Wealdstone and Hendon man Josh McLeod-Urquhart complete the haul and Tamplin is confident of success next term.
“It's the best Non-League team in the world,” Tamplin told The Echo. “The biggest thing we have done is made sure we have bought consistent players – each will put in a shift every week.
“Then we have the likes of Waldren, Evans and Paine who are captains and leaders. If you add to the seven or eight leaders we already have that is very exciting, especially as they are coming from two levels above.
“The energy is amazing. They are all good people and I spoke to three times this amount of players. Some of them may have been better players but I didn't like their beliefs or values so I didn't sign them.
“They have all been measured, weighed, including their body mass index and body fat, and all have been given targets to reach by July 1. Otherwise it will come out of their wages.
“We will win the league next season.”
Billericay chairman Dan Groves, meanwhile, apologised after claiming on Twitter that the club had signed Sam Deering, who is still under contract with Ebbsfleet United.
Billericay can spend as much as they want on mercenaries and money grabbers. They are building a collection of players who are there for the money and nothing else.
Whilst that might get you promotion you won’t sustain it long term.
I am an Ebbsfleet United supporter and we have a very rich owner, (considerably richer than Glen Tamplin) yet we wer not the highest wage bill last year and we still won promotion.
We want players at our club who want to be there not who want the cash! If that means we lose a couple of players to Billericay so be it, we don’t want or need them.