Flip-flops at the ready!
By Wendy Gee - 
IAN Baird has likened Eastleigh’s task next season to "trying to climb Everest in a pair of flip-flops."
It’s a challenge the ex-Saint is fully geared up for, but Baird knows that competing in the tough world of the Conference South with a core of just nine senior players will be a tall order.
Tom Jordan, Jamie Slabber, Danny Smith, Ross Bottomley, Gareth Barfoot, Richard Gillespie and Jamie Brown are all that remain of last season’s squad who just missed out on the play-offs.
Long-time Spitfires servant Andy Forbes has returned to the club after a spell with Woking and Sutton, while former Gillingham first-year pro Andrew White is one of the first to sign up for the Spitfires’ full-time player development programme.
Three promising home-grown youngsters - Ben Wilson, Sam Wilson and Liam Hibberd – have also started full-time training with the Stoneham Lane club as has England Schoolboys defender Jack Vallis from Shrewton United.
"It’s an interesting and exciting project but, believe you me, it’s going to be a very, very difficult year," said Baird.
“I’ve used the old adage of climbing Everest in a pair of flip-flops!
"On the positive side, we’ve got one or two good young players who can hopefully progress in the same way as Aaron Martin, Brett Williams, Damian Scannell and Mark Marshall and go on and have professional careers.
"The young players we’ve got have a fantastic attitude and it’s a case of starting with a clean sheet and trying to develop."
Losing high-calibre players like Tony Taggart, Anthony Riviere, Peter Adeniyi and Richard Graham has been tough to take for Baird as the club go down the route of youth development.
But having signed a new contract last season, he is determined to see the project through.
"If I’m honest I could have walked away from the club," he told Eastleigh FC’s Radio Spitfire.
"This is not what I want, but I’m seriously up for the challenge. Next season is going to be a survival season. It will be a roller-coaster, but I feel very positive about it as long as I’m allowed to do my job properly."
Understandably, Eastleigh’s change of direction has been met with scepticism from some fans, fearing a play-off near miss will be followed by a season of struggle.
But director of football David Malone insisted: "It’s exciting. It’s brought the change we need to reinvigorate the club.
“Contrary to what people say on the forum and suchlike, we’re not a bunch of blithering idiots. We know what we’re doing and things are going pretty much according to plan. Bairdy has worked really hard to get us to where we are now and so far, so good.
"I’ve no doubt that when the season starts it’s going to be tough because we’ve lost a lot of experienced players. But I’m optimistic for the future and I think we’ve done all that could be asked of us. Last season we were getting criticism for not doing this and that right and now we’re doing something different and people have got to ride with it.
“It’s a new way forward. We’ll make mistakes and we’ll lose some games, but we’re doing our best.”
It’s a challenge the ex-Saint is fully geared up for, but Baird knows that competing in the tough world of the Conference South with a core of just nine senior players will be a tall order.
Tom Jordan, Jamie Slabber, Danny Smith, Ross Bottomley, Gareth Barfoot, Richard Gillespie and Jamie Brown are all that remain of last season’s squad who just missed out on the play-offs.
Long-time Spitfires servant Andy Forbes has returned to the club after a spell with Woking and Sutton, while former Gillingham first-year pro Andrew White is one of the first to sign up for the Spitfires’ full-time player development programme.
Three promising home-grown youngsters - Ben Wilson, Sam Wilson and Liam Hibberd – have also started full-time training with the Stoneham Lane club as has England Schoolboys defender Jack Vallis from Shrewton United.
"It’s an interesting and exciting project but, believe you me, it’s going to be a very, very difficult year," said Baird.
“I’ve used the old adage of climbing Everest in a pair of flip-flops!
"On the positive side, we’ve got one or two good young players who can hopefully progress in the same way as Aaron Martin, Brett Williams, Damian Scannell and Mark Marshall and go on and have professional careers.
"The young players we’ve got have a fantastic attitude and it’s a case of starting with a clean sheet and trying to develop."
Losing high-calibre players like Tony Taggart, Anthony Riviere, Peter Adeniyi and Richard Graham has been tough to take for Baird as the club go down the route of youth development.
But having signed a new contract last season, he is determined to see the project through.
"If I’m honest I could have walked away from the club," he told Eastleigh FC’s Radio Spitfire.
"This is not what I want, but I’m seriously up for the challenge. Next season is going to be a survival season. It will be a roller-coaster, but I feel very positive about it as long as I’m allowed to do my job properly."
Understandably, Eastleigh’s change of direction has been met with scepticism from some fans, fearing a play-off near miss will be followed by a season of struggle.
But director of football David Malone insisted: "It’s exciting. It’s brought the change we need to reinvigorate the club.
“Contrary to what people say on the forum and suchlike, we’re not a bunch of blithering idiots. We know what we’re doing and things are going pretty much according to plan. Bairdy has worked really hard to get us to where we are now and so far, so good.
"I’ve no doubt that when the season starts it’s going to be tough because we’ve lost a lot of experienced players. But I’m optimistic for the future and I think we’ve done all that could be asked of us. Last season we were getting criticism for not doing this and that right and now we’re doing something different and people have got to ride with it.
“It’s a new way forward. We’ll make mistakes and we’ll lose some games, but we’re doing our best.”
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