Quotes & Video from the Gaffer...
- Sarll on being back at work & the early days of pre-season…
“I very much enjoy watching them hurt. I hate being away from the players in the post-season period. “They as players will absolutely detest this time of year.
“I am not a good holiday maker so to be back at work, have that interaction again and that feeling that you are building; it is a big plus for me."
- Sarll on already noticing physical improvements…
“Twelve months on we are a million miles on in turns of the physical development of the side.
“We feel like the players we retained have improved their professionalism and their quality of athleticism has definitely improved. That means we can just get going a little bit earlier, a little bit quicker.
“We think we can take this group to where we want to go a little bit quicker.”
- Sarll on the signing of Blair Turgott…
“Blair is someone that we have known about for a long time. We tracked him an awful lot at Bromley last year and he ultimately brings pace to the team.
“We were pretty much a pace-less side last year and he will give us that option to use wide players in an authentic way.
“He brings that change and variable that we didn’t have. We are trying very hard to bring some new ingredients to the table.”
- Sarll on the signing of Joe Martin…
“Joe Martin is a huge signing for the football club. Joe in the last two years has played 65ish games for Millwall in what has been two League One play-off pushes.
"Joe is a terrific left-back and we have not really replaced Scott Laird, ever. When Joe became available and I met him, he was exactly the right type of character I wanted in another senior player.
“The fans will love him because of his honesty, he has a lovely left foot and he is just a proper player.
“For us to sign a 28 year old who should be approaching his prime, they don’t come around often for a manager of Stevenage.”
- Sarll on the ongoing contract situations with Jamie Jones, Steve Schumacher and Jobi McAnuff…
“Jamie showed no real signs or eagerness to take the deal that was offered to him a week before the season ended. He is still in the same position.
“We can’t at the moment find a happy medium financially with Steven Schumacher and Jobi is very similar. That will be ongoing.
“These are three senior players, they don’t jump in two footed. They wait, weigh up their options and assess the situation before a final decision."
- Sarll on the need to plan for the season without them…
“Absolutely. The contingency plan with or without them is already there. The football club can’t stand still so whilst there is no progress individually or collectively on those three, it is important we keep moving forward.
“Don’t be surprised if more signings are to come during the next six weeks before any of those three (have their future decided)."
