I think it was about this time last season that I was asked for my comments about pre-season, players in and out, performances in friendlies, and just how things are looking for the new season. My short answer was I hate everything about pre-season. This time around, and now in what is over 40 seasons as a player, coach and Manager, for me nothing has changed, I still hate everything about it.

The return itself is ok, it's nice to catch up with the lads and get going again, not that there is too much of a break for the players anymore with the seasons seemingly getting ever longer, and certainly for the management you end one season and immediately start working on the next so it is just in some ways business as usual.

The bit that’s not nice is the huge numbers that turn up to training all expecting a guaranteed first-team start, all wanting to be allocated their favourite number for when they are in the squad, the trialists that spend more time writing their CV and negotiating than training, all of whom play at youth level for a professional club, whose fall from grace wasn’t their fault, and that if luck had been with them they would be gracing the Premier League. Once those chats are out of the way and they have the message that this club is not for them you do return to some sort of sanity. The early friendlies are disrupted by holidays and very often feature more players that won't be at the club than will, and the game itself when you are looking to see if you have a stand-out player very rarely shows you anything. The multiple substitutions of your own making along with players feeling tired because they’ve tried another club earlier in the day or picked up a blister because of the hard grounds or tightened up because they aren’t fit due to missed training sessions and it’s a game that serves a purpose, but that’s it for me.

This pre-season has had all of the above but has been good in a lot of ways. There has been a focus on fitness and the introduction of Tony Reid to the team has been behind that. I've felt quite isolated watching them serve up training drills that I wouldn’t enjoy. Perhaps that’s a throwback to when I was playing where I begrudgingly did the hard graft but relished the point where it became more about ball work.

Player-wise we have managed to retain a lot of last year's squad, but Barry Vanlint as a result of a house move has gone and Maurice Black has left for Chipstead. Others are still to decide on their future as I typed this, but I wish everyone a successful season whatever they decide.

A lot of the committee and management team have taken their holidays so they come back fresh for the start of the season. I am updating you from the sunny island of Tenerife, but shall be back in good time for our first match of the season, against AFC Uckfield on Saturday. I know the grounds team and volunteers have been working hard to get the pitch ready, and all the other jobs that happen behind the scenes, for which we're all very grateful.

See you on Saturday for a 3pm KO, unless my flights delayed!

Glynn Stephens