Danny Searle's Fleet scored the needed point when they drew 0-0 with Boreham Wood at the weekend, meaning they'll stay in the National League next season. Hear his reaction when he spoke to Bartholomew on Invicta Sport.
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00:00We are CELA! We are CELA!
00:08We were immensely proud of what we've achieved in the short time we've been at the club.
00:13You look at where we were when I came in 15 games ago to where we are now,
00:18and a lot of people had written us off and said it was mission impossible,
00:22but everyone come together, the supporters, the staff, the players,
00:27and we just worked tirelessly to try and get what we wanted.
00:31As you said, celebrating a nil-nil draw in the way we did was probably,
00:35from anyone outside of looking in, would probably think we're mad,
00:37but when you've been through the emotional rollercoaster that we've been through,
00:41it was exactly what was needed because we thoroughly deserved to celebrate in that way.
00:46And it was a fairly tough end to the season, but saying that,
00:49the start of your tenure at the club was a really positive one.
00:52You got 22 points from your first 11 games and that was quite the pace to set things off.
00:57You seemed to gel with this team pretty early on.
01:01Yeah, it's a very talented group of players, a lot of experience in there.
01:05There's a lot of players in there that I knew already and I'd either worked with
01:10or I'd come across in my time in football, so it was a no-brainer from our perspective
01:15to take the role because I knew the potential of the squad.
01:19The tough part is actually, can you get that potential out of the lads
01:22and can you make them perform to the levels they need to,
01:25to ensure Ebbs Feet were playing National League football next season?
01:28That was the challenge and, to be honest, that's where the credit goes to the lads
01:32because they bought into me from day one and the rest is history from that perspective
01:38because we achieved what we needed to achieve.
01:41If you look at the 15 games that we've been in charge,
01:44I think we're joint sixth in the league for form and the only teams above us are the lads
01:50that have either been in the playoffs or finished just outside the playoffs.
01:54It's a credit to everyone involved.
01:56And thinking ahead to next season then, do you look forward to having a clean slate?
02:01Is there much you can progress from what you've clearly done in the last few games
02:06or is this a case of maybe making a few changes over the summer?
02:09No, I think you look to progress every day regardless of whether you're top of the league,
02:14bottom of the league, wherever you are.
02:16If you're not striving to be better every day then you're probably in the wrong environment
02:20because I work on that myself.
02:23I try to better myself all the time and you sometimes take a step back because you've
02:29made some mistakes.
02:30But as long as you're genuinely making steps forwards in the right direction,
02:33then you're going to hopefully be successful at some point.
02:36And that's no different with the club and with our recruitment and our retaining for next season.
02:41We need to ensure we've got players in the building that are capable of playing at the
02:45level we want them to play at as well as adding players that are going to strengthen the squad
02:50but also the line-up.
02:51We want to strengthen the starting line-up.
02:52We want players that are creating more competition throughout the squad.
02:57So that's something we started doing three or four weeks ago, to be honest,
03:01looking towards next season.
03:02And of course next season, well you've kind of confirmed it for Kent and for the county
03:07that will definitely have a team in the top flight of non-league football.
03:11But Maidstone United could be one to join you.
03:13Obviously you played them last week in the Kent Senior Cup.
03:16What have you made of the kind of local scene of football since you've come to Ebbsfleet?
03:22There's a lot of strong teams within our kind of region.
03:25And obviously from our perspective, and I don't mean this disrespectfully,
03:30that's up to Maidstone to control what they do and to worry about themselves.
03:35My job is to worry about Ebbsfleet United and what we're doing.
03:38But from a supporter's perspective, local derbies are brilliant.
03:43They bring a different environment to the whole set-up.
03:46And if there's a chance to have local derbies next season, then we'll embrace that.
03:51But as I said, I'll leave Maidstone's fate up to George and his staff to worry about.
03:56Of course, of course.
03:57Just before we go, is it too early to think about benchmarks for next year?
04:01Maybe goals, personal goals, where you want to end up?
04:04I think the biggest one is to not be in a situation where we're fighting for our lives
04:09on the last day of the season again.
04:12We need to establish ourselves as a solid National League side,
04:15not one that bounces back and forth from the leagues.
04:18We need to make sure that we're considered a strong outfit.
04:21Once you build those foundations,
04:23then you can start looking to build even bigger for the future.
04:25But the biggest priority is to make sure
04:28that we don't put ourselves in the same situation we found ourselves in this season.
04:31Well, Danny, thank you very much for talking with me.
04:33Enjoy the summer and best of luck for next year.
04:35No worries. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me on.