THE FC STRATFORD MANAGER, DANNY JANES, WRITES ABOUT HIS TEAM'S TRAINING, PRE-SEASON & EXPECTATIONS FOR THE NEW SEASON...

I sent a flurry of questions for Danny Janes to respond to and as always he has replied to the prompts with some really fascinating replies. 

The first question was about pre-season training...

"The players' response to training and the level of detail in games has been absolutely outstanding. I pride myself on detail and deep-level thinking with regards to how my teams play and how we stop the opposition. This puts a lot of pressure and many demands on players, as I am asking them to play a certain way and constantly assessing different situations during games. 

Players receive detailed content around team/individual shape out of possession, as well as team/individual shape in possession. A lot of players at this level do not receive too much coaching or instruction but as a player I really enjoyed the detailed thought and I enjoy it even more so as a manager. 

Players have been asked to step out of their comfort zones, for the way that we play means that players must receive the ball under pressure and play in tight areas. Mentally, players are challenged as they are constantly finding solutions. I have been really impressed with the progress over pre-season but we still have a lot of work to do and there is a range of areas which I want us to develop.

We started Pre-Season with around 45 players but our target was to have a squad of around 25 and we have achieved that. I had to have some really difficult conversations with good players who showed fantastic commitment but that is part of management and I wish those players all the best. The players who we did sign know that the competition is fierce in every position, so that any player who becomes too comfortable will be in for a shock. 

I am delighted with the squad we have assembled, so I am not actively looking to sign any further players. That does not mean our squad will not change, for if players do not perform they are in danger of losing their places and potentially losing their squad slots too. We are still monitoring two or three potential players however and we will see how their situations develop but at the moment I am very happy with what we have.

The main objective for the season is promotion. This league seems to get stronger and stronger every year in terms of the teams at the top, so it will be very difficult. We have had an excellent pre-season and the players will be ready for the first game of the term. I know a few managers will play down their chances but I simply can't do that when we have the quality that exists within our ranks. I must also back myself as a manager to ensure that my team is challenging for that promotion. Anything less than promotion will be a failure in my eyes... 

Our objectives are two-fold, we want to achieve promotion but we want to grasp it in a certain way, for we need our performances to be recognised and the quality to be high in games. If we do achieve our objectives, Division One is a league that I feel this club is built for. I don't want to look too far ahead because who am I to talk about us in the league above? We have achieved nothing yet but we do have a long-term plan.

In terms of the pre-season games, I have been really pleased with specific elements of performances. The defensive side has been very pleasing and the Droitwich game was the only one in which we let ourselves down defensively and too many players had poor games. I take pride in my team's defensive qualities and I also put a lot of demands on my defenders because I want them to start our attacks. I have been really pleased with how they have brought the ball out, as well as their patience in possession and playing forward passes at the right times. 

The most pleasing aspect of the pre-season games was how the players have responded to detailed information and how they have implemented that content. As I said before, it isn't easy playing for me because of the demands made in and out of possession, but the players have been fantastic. 

The area I would like us to improve is how we control games, for too many times in matches it has been end-to-end, which tells me we have lost control of the tempo. When teams have had decent spells, we have soaked up that pressure really well but that is when I would like us to be more patient in possession and establish control. 

We also need to be more clinical; we have created some great opportunities in games and haven't taken advantage. At Littleton we had some very good chances that we failed to take and against Rugby and Moreton we had opportunities to win, whereas the Southam and Stockton results should have been more comfortable. We can't allow teams to stay in games like we have: we must be ruthless and kill teams off.

I am registered as a player but I really doubt that I will ever need to play. We have a big squad because I wanted strength in depth and I never want to go into a game under-strength. I can't stand it when managers refer to players who are missing, as it is down to the manager to ensure that the side has enough quality to win any game. I might be named in the 16 from time to time but that will be it and obviously if it ever comes to it, I will always play and try to help as much as possible."

Danny Janes, Manager, FC Stratford...