WHILE the re-sown pitch at the EBB Stadium is busy maturing outside his office, new Shots boss Danny Searle certainly isn’t letting the grass grow under his feet.

The former Braintree boss, who took over the reins of the National League club exactly a month ago, has already signed five new players and given contracts to two more of last season’s squad as he prepares for his first season at the helm.

Having signed defenders Ollie O’Dwyer and Kodi Lyons-Foster before going on holiday, Searle has snapped up Dover Athletic goalkeeper Mitch Walker, midfielder Dean Rance from Ebbsfleet and young midfielder Ethan Chislett from Southern League side Met Police in a matter of days since getting back to work.

And his squad has been boosted further with left back Lewis Kinsella and midfielder James Rowe, who were both with the Shots last season, signing one-year deals.

With defender George Elokobi (Maidstone), winger Shamir Fenelon (Maidenhead), goalkeeper Jake Cole (Maidstone), striker Scott Rendell (Eastleigh) and right back Nick Arnold (Wealdstone) having left the club, the focus is now on Searle’s new-look squad gelling ahead of the new National League season on August 3 after last week’s relegation reprieve.

“It’s a massive five weeks (until the season starts),” he said, “but I think it’s longer than that when you are putting a new squad together. I’d be naive to stand here and say in five weeks time everyone will be doing exactly what we want them to be doing. But it gives us an opportunity to put a foundation in place that we can build on throughout the season.

“From a physical aspect we’ve got to get the players conditioned and ready to start the league season, but for me it’s more off the pitch, making sure they’re bonding and that they understand the standards and the philosophy that we’re putting in place, not just from a playing perspective but culturally from a club perspective.

“There are some very good teams in this league and some very big clubs and you need to understand that it’s about the work ethic, it’s about the amount of work that needs to be put in off the pitch and at the training ground. It helps you to prepare better, get yourselves into a better shape and really know what is expected of each other once you cross that white line on a Saturday or a Tuesday.

“I haven’t come to the club to settle for mediocrity, and we will work hard to try to bring some success.”

After a prolonged period of uncertainty, Searle has been able to plan for life in the National League after rule-breakers Gateshead were demoted one division, with Aldershot taking their place in the top tier next season.

“It’s a really tough situation,” said Searle, “as you really don’t want any club to suffer any adversity at all. I was fortunate enough to meet with quite a few people from Gateshead last season, not only staff and players but their supporters too, and they’re really good people.

“It’s bittersweet but I’m pleased that they have managed to get themselves into a situation where they have only been dropped down one league as opposed to the five or six that was originally rumoured.

“The caveat to that is that someone has to take advantage of what has happened and it’s fortunate for us that it’s Aldershot that’s going to reap the benefits. You don’t want it to happen but unfortunately these things do happen and we have to grab that opportunity with both hands.”

And Searle, who is joined at the EBB by assistant boss Anwar Uddin and goalkeeping coach David Blackmore, added: “The expectation has to be realistic. If not for Gateshead the club would have been in National League South next year, but the message is that we want to try to win as many football matches as we possibly can.”