*BS*ADAM BIRCHALL has warned that Martin Hayes may be a laid-back geezer – but he is a manager who demands the best.

*BF*Former boss Andy Hessenthaler always drove a hard bargain with his players and only was satisfied with 100 per cent performances.

Hayes has a more relaxed attitude but that only masks a tougher interior.

And striker Birchall admitted: “He only demands the best – and will let everyone know if they are not hitting the standards he expects.

“I find him a far more laid-back character compared to Hess. Andy was very much in your face – almost boyish – but obviously a very good manager.

“Martin isn’t that type of guy – yet his standards are very high too and that’s what is important.”

Adam is encouraged that Hayes is looking to play with wingers and believes that the one weakness in the squad last season was a lack of width.

*Q1*The Whites striker said: “Once Jerhal Hughes left the club, we were struggling for width. He was great at coming on towards the end of matches and stretching the opposition.

“He was a great outlet for us and a player who got behind defenders. That’s something we need to improve and Martin, of course, was a winger so knows all about this part of the team.

“It’s great to hear he is looking to strengthen this area.”

Adam is confident Hayes can help the club deliver another promotion bid this season – and says the core of the squad is exceptionally strong.

He said: “The bulk of the squad is still here from last season and we just need a few more to improve us. I think Martin has an excellent chance of taking us forward – and the atmosphere is very positive. We can have a good season.”

The former Barnet ace says he was encouraged by the team’s performance during the 2-0 defeat to League One Colchester in the opening tune-up match.

And he added: “There was a good work ethic and I thought the trialists looked good. It was daunting going into the game as we only had one session with the ball.

“You always like to have a good feel for the ball before going into a game – but, despite that, I thought we did pretty well against a very strong Colchester side.”

*BS*MEDIA outlets are reminded that articles on doverathletic.com are copyrighted. Permission must be sought before reproducing any material.

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*BS*Latest news from Blue Square Bet South*BF*

With the league season just a month away, clubs are stepping up their search for new players.

We start our round-up with a familiar name returning to Essex…

*BS*Thurrock*BF* have welcomed back former Barnet striker Cliff Akurang. He made 121 appearances in two previous spells at Ship Lane, scoring 48 goals.

www.nln24.com reported: One of those goals was the classic against Luton Town in the FA Cup first round replay on 18th November 2003 which Luton won 3-1.

Manager Hakan Hayrettin said: “I am extremely pleased with Cliff, he knows I can get the best out of him which will benefit both parties.”

*BS*Braintree*BF* have completed the signing of former Colchester striker Jamie Guy. The 22 year-old striker played over 50 times for the U’s before leaving the club for Grays Athletic in January 2010.

Guy is a replacement for last season’s top scorer George Purcell, who has joined York City. A former Ebbsfleet forward, Purcell scored 22 goals in 44 games for the Iron.

Braintree have also lost several defenders to Blue Square Bet South new boys Dartford, who recently signed Charlie Sheringham from Bishop’s Stortford.
*Lpic1*
*BS*Bromley*BF* have signed goalkeeper Craig Holloway from Braintree. The Lilywhites are the third Blue Square Bet South club Holloway has played for in the past 12 months after starting last season at Chelmsford.

The Hayes Lane club have also signed Tooting striker Paul Vines. The goalpoacher netted several times against Dover in the Whites’ successive Ryman League title-winning seasons. He made 200 appearances and scored 123 goals for the South London club.

*BS*Lewes*BF* are in new ownership, an attempt to secure the long-term future of the club and give control to the supporters. Owners Martin Elliott and Kevin Powell have cleared the outstanding debts and handed all shares in the club over to Lewes Community Football Club.

*BS*Bishop’s Stortford*BF* are hoping to hang on to talented youngster Scott Shulton. The midfielder has been on trial with Southampton and could be offered a contract this week.

*BS*Boreham Wood*BF* have promoted former Ashford Town (Kent) goalkeeper Simon Overland to first-choice after losing experienced stopper Tony Tucker. Overland signed for Wood in March 2009 but went elsewhere in search of regular football and has played at all levels of non-league football, including Gravesend, Dagenham and Dulwich.

*BS*Latest news from Blue Square Bet South*BF*

With the league season just a month away, clubs are stepping up their search for new players.

We start our round-up with a familiar name returning to Essex…

*BS*Thurrock*BF* have welcomed back former Barnet striker Cliff Akurang. He made 121 appearances in two previous spells at Ship Lane, scoring 48 goals.

www.nln24.com reported: One of those goals was the classic against Luton Town in the FA Cup first round replay on 18th November 2003 which Luton won 3-1.

Manager Hakan Hayrettin said: “I am extremely pleased with Cliff, he knows I can get the best out of him which will benefit both parties.”

*BS*Braintree*BF* have completed the signing of former Colchester striker Jamie Guy. The 22 year-old striker played over 50 times for the U’s before leaving the club for Grays Athletic in January 2010.

Guy is a replacement for last season’s top scorer George Purcell, who has joined York City. A former Ebbsfleet forward, Purcell scored 22 goals in 44 games for the Iron.

Braintree have also lost several defenders to Blue Square Bet South new boys Dartford, who recently signed Charlie Sheringham from Bishop’s Stortford.
*Lpic1*
*BS*Bromley*BF* have signed goalkeeper Craig Holloway from Braintree. The Lilywhites are the third Blue Square Bet South club Holloway has played for in the past 12 months after starting last season at Chelmsford.

The Hayes Lane club have also signed Tooting striker Paul Vines. The goalpoacher netted several times against Dover in the Whites’ successive Ryman League title-winning seasons. He made 200 appearances and scored 123 goals for the South London club.

*BS*Lewes*BF* are in new ownership, an attempt to secure the long-term future of the club and give control to the supporters. Owners Martin Elliott and Kevin Powell have cleared the outstanding debts and handed all shares in the club over to Lewes Community Football Club.

*BS*Bishop’s Stortford*BF* are hoping to hang on to talented youngster Scott Shulton. The midfielder has been on trial with Southampton and could be offered a contract this week.

*BS*Boreham Wood*BF* have promoted former Ashford Town (Kent) goalkeeper Simon Overland to first-choice after losing experienced stopper Tony Tucker. Overland signed for Wood in March 2009 but went elsewhere in search of regular football and has played at all levels of non-league football, including Gravesend, Dagenham and Dulwich.

*BS*MARTIN HAYES had to drag someone out of the stands to play 20 minutes of the second half to save Matt Fish from melting in the heat at Crabble.

*BF*Hayes substituted his entire team at the break during the 2-0 friendly defeat against Colchester with the exception of Fish.

Yet it was the intention to reintroduce one of the first-half players in place of the Whites full-back after 10 to 15 minutes.

But the referee in charge did not allow Hayes to make the change.

The Whites boss said: “Poor Matt played far longer than we intended. The ref told me he would not allow us to bring players on that we had already taken off.

“I was under the impression, because it was a friendly, that we could do that. The referee claims he had told the club this prior to the fixture – but I certainly had no knowledge of this rule.

“So we had to find a lad who was in the stands to come on, just so we could give Matty a breather!

“To be fair, the lad in the stands actually had been training with us this week. I don’t even know the name of the boy!

“If anyone wants a game at Faversham next week, by the way, just bring your boots, you’ll probably get on!”

*Q1*But, apart from the far from ideal build-up to the game and an over-fussy referee, Hayes was happy enough with what he saw from his Dover squad during their first tune-up match.

*BF*Whites – fielding several trialists and academy players – were far from disgraced against the League One club.

He said: “We didn’t look too bad to be fair. The opening goal was disappointing to concede. Our keeper Ross Flitney came from a cross, when he should have stayed on his line, and the header has come in.

“The gap between the two teams in the first half was not that massive and everyone worked hard, which was good to see.

“In the second half, I felt the team did not work as hard. I thought the young keeper Ben Humphrey did very well.

“Going into this game, we had only worked with the ball for about half an hour – so it was a tough game first up.

“Now we go to Faversham, which will be a step-up for us in regards to being able to play our game, attack more but on not the best pitch in the world. It will be a better match for us at this stage of our pre-season.”

Hayes says the squad he had to work with at the weekend would be good enough to mount a promotion challenge.

And he admits there was three or four trialists on display who he is seriously considering as new additions to the squad.

*Ppic1*Trialists on display were:

*BS*Ahmed Deen: *BF*Left-winger or left-back who Martin managed at Bishop’s Stortford. He went on to play for Macclesfield and Barnet.

*BS*Elliott Charles: *BF*Striker who has played for Barnet and Kettering.

*BS*Luke Medley: *BF*Right winger who has just been released by Barnet. Was on loan at Havant and Waterlooville last season.

*BS*Sam Cutler: *BF*Central midfielder or right back who has played for Weymouth and Grays. Finished last season at Welling.

*BS*Jordan Anderson: *BF*Centre half who has been with Charlton.

*BS*Jackson Ohakam: *BF*Centre-half or right-back who wanted a trial from Margate.

*BS*Aiden Davis: *BF*Been with Yeovil. Plays as a right-winger.

*BS*Mark Corneille: *BF*Central midfielder or right-back from Bromley.

*BS*Ben Hunt: *BF*Striker released by Bristol Rovers.

New-signing Rob Gillman did not feature as he was attending a family wedding but will now figure in the rest of the pre-season campaign.

Hayes said: “I just need to whittle the squad down to 18 to 20 players and then we’re ready to go.

“We’re having a good look at the trialists and there are a couple who are coming down to keep fit but are still exploring options with Football League clubs … so we’re waiting on a few things.

“However, we’re not in bad shape and I’m confident we’ll have a strong squad to go all guns blazing when the season kicks off.”

*BS*MARTIN HAYES had to drag someone out of the stands to play 20 minutes of the second half to save Matt Fish from melting in the heat at Crabble.

*BF*Hayes substituted his entire team at the break during the 2-0 friendly defeat against Colchester with the exception of Fish.

Yet it was the intention to reintroduce one of the first-half players in place of the Whites full-back after 10 to 15 minutes.

But the referee in charge did not allow Hayes to make the change.

The Whites boss said: “Poor Matt played far longer than we intended. The ref told me he would not allow us to bring players on that we had already taken off.

“I was under the impression, because it was a friendly, that we could do that. The referee claims he had told the club this prior to the fixture – but I certainly had no knowledge of this rule.

“So we had to find a lad who was in the stands to come on, just so we could give Matty a breather!

“To be fair, the lad in the stands actually had been training with us this week. I don’t even know the name of the boy!

“If anyone wants a game at Faversham next week, by the way, just bring your boots, you’ll probably get on!”

*Q1*But, apart from the far from ideal build-up to the game and an over-fussy referee, Hayes was happy enough with what he saw from his Dover squad during their first tune-up match.

*BF*Whites – fielding several trialists and academy players – were far from disgraced against the League One club.

He said: “We didn’t look too bad to be fair. The opening goal was disappointing to concede. Our keeper Ross Flitney came from a cross, when he should have stayed on his line, and the header has come in.

“The gap between the two teams in the first half was not that massive and everyone worked hard, which was good to see.

“In the second half, I felt the team did not work as hard. I thought the young keeper Ben Humphrey did very well.

“Going into this game, we had only worked with the ball for about half an hour – so it was a tough game first up.

“Now we go to Faversham, which will be a step-up for us in regards to being able to play our game, attack more but on not the best pitch in the world. It will be a better match for us at this stage of our pre-season.”

Hayes says the squad he had to work with at the weekend would be good enough to mount a promotion challenge.

And he admits there was three or four trialists on display who he is seriously considering as new additions to the squad.

*Ppic1*Trialists on display were:

*BS*Ahmed Deen: *BF*Left-winger or left-back who Martin managed at Bishop’s Stortford. He went on to play for Macclesfield and Barnet.

*BS*Elliott Charles: *BF*Striker who has played for Barnet and Kettering.

*BS*Luke Medley: *BF*Right winger who has just been released by Barnet. Was on loan at Havant and Waterlooville last season.

*BS*Sam Cutler: *BF*Central midfielder or right back who has played for Weymouth and Grays. Finished last season at Welling.

*BS*Jordan Anderson: *BF*Centre half who has been with Charlton.

*BS*Jackson Ohakam: *BF*Centre-half or right-back who wanted a trial from Margate.

*BS*Aiden Davis: *BF*Been with Yeovil. Plays as a right-winger.

*BS*Mark Corneille: *BF*Central midfielder or right-back from Bromley.

*BS*Ben Hunt: *BF*Striker released by Bristol Rovers.

New-signing Rob Gillman did not feature as he was attending a family wedding but will now figure in the rest of the pre-season campaign.

Hayes said: “I just need to whittle the squad down to 18 to 20 players and then we’re ready to go.

“We’re having a good look at the trialists and there are a couple who are coming down to keep fit but are still exploring options with Football League clubs … so we’re waiting on a few things.

“However, we’re not in bad shape and I’m confident we’ll have a strong squad to go all guns blazing when the season kicks off.”

NULL

NULL

*BS*DOVER ATHLETIC are back in action on Saturday, kicking off the new season against Football League opposition.*BF*

Martin Hayes’ new-look squad and triallists take on League One side Colchester at Perrys Crabble at 3.00pm.

The new Dover boss will have his first opportunity to see how his squad is shaping up and judge what areas still need strengthening in preparation for the first league game at Woking in August.

Whites’ defence is already looking strong, following the signing of Rob Gillman from Bromley and the forthcoming arrival of Gillingham’s Tom Wynter at left back. Matt Fish and Olly Schulz have both signed new contracts and the versatile Dean Hill is keen to join them by impressing in pre-season.

Both clubs have experienced losing their manager and key personnel. While Colchester’s upheaval happened a year ago, they are a club rebuilding for the future and have lost several players in the summer, including midfielder David Fox to former boss Paul Lambert’s Norwich City.

Lambert left Colchester at the beginning of last season shortly after guiding them to a 7-1 win at Norwich. The Canaries have recently been forced to pay Colchester £425,000 in compensation for Lambert, who led the Norfolk club to an immediate promotion.

*BS*Colchester Fact File:*BF*
~ Formed in 1937. Formerly Colchester Town, which was established in 1867.
~ Nickname: ‘The Oystermen’ or ‘The U’s’
*Lpic1*
*BS*Stadium:*BF*
~ Weston Homes Community Stadium, opened in 2008. Capacity: 10,000
~ Former ground: Layer Road – opened in 1909.
~ Record attendance: 19,072 (Layer Road)

*BS*Honours:*BF*
~ Football Conference Champions 1991–92
~ FA Challenge Trophy Winners 1991–92
~ Southern Football League Champions 1938–39
~ Southern League Cup winners 1939–40, 1946–47
~ Eastern Counties Football League Champions 1938–39, 1956–57

*BS*Historic Cup Run:*BF*
In the 1947-48 season Colchester, then in the Southern League, produced one of the most notable F.A. Cup runs by a non-league side, beating fellow-non-league side Banbury Spencer in the First Round before beating league clubs Wrexham, Huddersfield and Bradford Park Avenue. They finally fell to Blackpool in the fifth round. (Source: Wikipedia)

*BS*KEY PERSONNEL*BF*
*Ppic1*
*BS*Manager: John Ward*BF*
Former Lincoln City striker. Previously managed York, Bristol Rovers, Bristol City, Cheltenham and Carlisle. Won promotion twice as a manager at Bristol City and Cheltenham and arrived at Colchester in 2010.

*BS*Assistant Manager: Joe Dunne*BF*
Former Whites midfielder, Joe is inextricably linked with Colchester. Started his playing career at Gillingham, before moving to Layer Road where he made 160 appearances in two spells.

He only played 12 times for Dover in five months at Crabble under Bill Williams in 1999 but formed arguably the best midfield in the Conference with Simon Wormull, Dave Clarke and Neil Le Bihan, which catapulted Dover up the table on its way to securing the club’s best ever placing in the Conference (6th).

*BS*Longest-serving Player: Kemal Izzet*BF*
333 appearances and counting for the 29 year-old midfielder. Younger brother of Muzzy Izzet, who played in the Premiership for Leicester, Kemal played 31 games last season.

*BS*SATURDAY 10 JULY – 3.00PM
DOVER ATHLETIC vs COLCHESTER UNITED*BF*

*BS*MATCH POSTERS:*BF*
*Link1*

*BS*DOVER ATHLETIC are back in action on Saturday, kicking off the new season against Football League opposition.*BF*

Martin Hayes’ new-look squad and triallists take on League One side Colchester at Perrys Crabble at 3.00pm.

The new Dover boss will have his first opportunity to see how his squad is shaping up and judge what areas still need strengthening in preparation for the first league game at Woking in August.

Whites’ defence is already looking strong, following the signing of Rob Gillman from Bromley and the forthcoming arrival of Gillingham’s Tom Wynter at left back. Matt Fish and Olly Schulz have both signed new contracts and the versatile Dean Hill is keen to join them by impressing in pre-season.

Both clubs have experienced losing their manager and key personnel. While Colchester’s upheaval happened a year ago, they are a club rebuilding for the future and have lost several players in the summer, including midfielder David Fox to former boss Paul Lambert’s Norwich City.

Lambert left Colchester at the beginning of last season shortly after guiding them to a 7-1 win at Norwich. The Canaries have recently been forced to pay Colchester £425,000 in compensation for Lambert, who led the Norfolk club to an immediate promotion.

*BS*Colchester Fact File:*BF*
~ Formed in 1937. Formerly Colchester Town, which was established in 1867.
~ Nickname: ‘The Oystermen’ or ‘The U’s’
*Lpic1*
*BS*Stadium:*BF*
~ Weston Homes Community Stadium, opened in 2008. Capacity: 10,000
~ Former ground: Layer Road – opened in 1909.
~ Record attendance: 19,072 (Layer Road)

*BS*Honours:*BF*
~ Football Conference Champions 1991–92
~ FA Challenge Trophy Winners 1991–92
~ Southern Football League Champions 1938–39
~ Southern League Cup winners 1939–40, 1946–47
~ Eastern Counties Football League Champions 1938–39, 1956–57

*BS*Historic Cup Run:*BF*
In the 1947-48 season Colchester, then in the Southern League, produced one of the most notable F.A. Cup runs by a non-league side, beating fellow-non-league side Banbury Spencer in the First Round before beating league clubs Wrexham, Huddersfield and Bradford Park Avenue. They finally fell to Blackpool in the fifth round. (Source: Wikipedia)

*BS*KEY PERSONNEL*BF*
*Ppic1*
*BS*Manager: John Ward*BF*
Former Lincoln City striker. Previously managed York, Bristol Rovers, Bristol City, Cheltenham and Carlisle. Won promotion twice as a manager at Bristol City and Cheltenham and arrived at Colchester in 2010.

*BS*Assistant Manager: Joe Dunne*BF*
Former Whites midfielder, Joe is inextricably linked with Colchester. Started his playing career at Gillingham, before moving to Layer Road where he made 160 appearances in two spells.

He only played 12 times for Dover in five months at Crabble under Bill Williams in 1999 but formed arguably the best midfield in the Conference with Simon Wormull, Dave Clarke and Neil Le Bihan, which catapulted Dover up the table on its way to securing the club’s best ever placing in the Conference (6th).

*BS*Longest-serving Player: Kemal Izzet*BF*
333 appearances and counting for the 29 year-old midfielder. Younger brother of Muzzy Izzet, who played in the Premiership for Leicester, Kemal played 31 games last season.

*BS*SATURDAY 10 JULY – 3.00PM
DOVER ATHLETIC vs COLCHESTER UNITED*BF*

*BS*MATCH POSTERS:*BF*
*Link1*