With the curtain about to rise on another season, Steve Nichol talked openly about the team’s preparation for the coming season, the transfer market and Garforth’s pre season programme.

After a good break the players returned to pre season training at the beginning of the month, the sessions have been very good and the atmosphere excellent.  There has been no running, everything has been with the ball, and in this way the players are competing in every session.  The football element of training is the most important element, not the physical element, if you do the football early and correctly, the physical element follows. It's automatic.

Askern Villa were our first pre season opponents on Saturday, the game included a few players that will feature next season as well as a number of trialists.  I was very pleased with the game, Askern’s season starts earlier than ours and they are three weeks ahead in the preparation.  The clean sheet was pleasing, we controlled the game for long spells, it was an excellent workout for the players and gave us a chance to look at players and shape the squad for the coming season.

The summer has been busy, on the back of last season we had to analyse the situation, ask many questions and then decide on the way forward.  Garforth is a unique club, I am proud to be here, I want my players to feel that way also.  I want the players this season to enjoy training and playing for Garforth, the club is the main thing, we are all small in comparison, if we realise that and work together as a group it is not difficult to get results.

James Riordan and Adam Clayton have left to join Bradford Park Avenue and Nathan Kamara, Tom Taylor and father, Geoff have moved to Farsley.  Craig Ellison has joined Curzon Ashton, Duncan Williams is trialling with a League One side and Paul Johnson and Lee Mason have returned to Hartlepool United.

Tom Greaves has been unsettled for a third occasion since joining the club last summer.  Tom had an excellent season scoring 28 goals; it is the first season he has broken the twenty-goal barrier, the target for most strikers, and twelve better than his previous best.  He will be allowed to leave subject to a transfer fee.

I don’t always consider stability in a squad as a crucial factor to whether a side is successful.  A team has to be taught by the coach in the right way and that isn’t about having people working together for years.  It is about the coach getting it right, getting the right players, hard work and good training sessions.

Paul Walker, Chris Fisher, Chris Kamara, Liam Ormsby, Adam Clark, Jonny Evans and Milton Turner have signed for next season.  Oliver Hotchkiss has signed a contract, I have worked with Oliver for close to ten years, and he has turned down a contract with a Blue Square Conference side wanting to return to Garforth.

I want the team to have a new identity next season, we are speaking with three or four players who if we are able to sign we will get closer to my ideal of a team.