11:05am Monday 8th June 2009
By Simon Fitzjohn
Jimmy Cooper is tipping his Met Police side to finally go one better and achieve promotion to the Ryman Premier next season after announcing his first batch of departures from Imber Court.
Having seen his Blues miss out in the play-offs for the fourth time in five seasons, Cooper’s hopes for the upcoming campaign were bolstered by the return of striker Craig Carley from Dartford last month.
But despite having seen Steve Sergent, Jon Henry-Hayden and Jamie Byatt leave last week Cooper remains in bullish mood.
He said: “I am disappointed that those players are leaving, but if I am honest I do not think it will make that much difference.
“Steve has recently changed jobs and the travelling was just becoming too much for him.
“Jon has returned to Canada and Jamie has decided to go back to Tooting & Mitcham and I wish them all the best.
“I have three players lined up to take their place from Ryman sides, and not only will they replace the three that have left, they will make us a better squad.”
Having suffered at the hands of Cray Wanderers in the Ryman Division One South play-off final one could forgive the Met for wanting to banish the memory.
But Cooper has urged his squad to use the experience to their advantage.
He added: “This year will be the first year in which we have kept the core of the side from the previous season.
“They have experienced a play-off disappointment and none of them want to go through that again.
“I hope the failure inspires them as our target is to win the league.
“We have organised a tough pre-season schedule as we have to hit the ground running.
“We will have a much smaller squad this season and we need to get them all match fit, so we will be playing plenty of games to be ready for August 15.”
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