Signposts

The new captain of the good ship Pilgrim would not have experienced many weeks more hectic as the last seven days, with Adams overseeing matters on and off the field, as well as organising his own shift from the Highlands of Scotland, to the south west of England. 

 

Nevertheless, Adams has already sat down with Chairman of the Greens, James Brent, to discuss transfer and recruitment policies, and he is confident in having an extensive and exciting set of players ahead of the new season.

 

“We’re working on things," said Derek. "I had a meeting with the chairman, just to go over the budget, so now we can go forward and try and get players in. We’re working on it.

 

“I’m not even a week into the job yet; obviously we have to add to the squad, and depending on the budget we have to work to the constraints of that. That’s what we’ll do, and we’ll be ready for August 8.

“Over the last week we’ve been assessing what we have in the squad, and assessing players that we are going to take in, and we will get to the point where we’ll make signings.

 

“We obviously need to get a team on the park that’s going to excite the fans, and to do that you need to win games. We’ll go and try and get the best players we possibly can under the budget.”

 

Two players who are yet to decide their future at Home Park are Anthony O’Connor and Tyler Harvey, and Derek quickly made a point of contacting the two young talents about their decision on whether to accept a new Argyle contract. 

 

“We have spoken to Anthony O’Connor’s agent,” said Adams, “and we’ve spoken to Tyler Harvey. We’ll have something definite in the coming weeks, or earlier.” 

 

Reuben Reid, meanwhile, has begun his recovery process from successful surgery on his foot – a short-term loss from the Greens to ensure his long-term fitness. Though Reuben is set to miss the start of the squad’s pre-season programme in July, Derek is looking forward to working with a striker that he admires greatly.

 

“He’ll not be ready for the start of next season. He’ll be recovering from the foot operation, but unable to train with the players,” said Adams.

 

“He’s scored a lot of goals and had a good career so far. I think he can do even better with his career; he’s got the potential to do that. We’re looking to help him on the coaching field to improve him and help him to move forward.”