Carshalton Athletic player/manager Peter Adeniyi will remain at Colston Avenue next season and is ‘quietly confident’ he can improve on his first year as boss.
After a real roller coaster season of unbeaten runs and unexpected defeats, the Robins missed out on a Ryman South play-off place by one point but the club rarely dropped outside the top seven as it vastly improved on two consecutive mid-table finishes.
And Adeniyi had no doubts about committing himself to another 12 months in the Carshalton hot seat.
“Despite the disappointment of missing out on the play-offs, I’ve really enjoyed my first experience of management,” said the 37-year old former Dulwich Hamlet and Eastleigh midfielder.
“It’s been a privilege to work with an exciting group of young players and they deserve all the credit for taking our season right up to the final game.
“I’ve got the full support from both the board and all the staff so, all in all, it was an easy decision to continue this adventure.”
Adeniyi and club chairman Paul Dipre have already begun shaping Carshalton’s squad for next season’s assault on the Ryman South, with 16-goal Chipstead attacker Raheem Sterling-Parker joining the club last week.
Tommy Bradford, Carshalton’s top scorer with 31 goals last season, and regular captain Bobby Price have also pledged to wear red again next season.
“The two main reasons I think we fell just shy of the play-offs were the amount of long-term injuries we suffered coupled with the failure to convert so many of chances we created,” Adeniyi explained.
“We scored over 100 goals last season but we should’ve had even more. When we lost games it was mainly down to our own wastefulness in front of goal, so someone like Raheem will give us a slightly more direct route in that sense.
“Everyone knows how talented our young players are however and they can now back that up with experience of being in a promotion battle.
“So we’d like to retain the majority of this current squad, which is why keeping the likes of Tommy and Bobby is important, while trying to add maybe four or five new faces to give us strength in depth.”
Adeniyi also wants his positive relationship with the Carshalton fans to continue moving forwards.
“The fans have been so supportive, even their criticism has been constructive, and I hope they continue to encourage our young players and keep Colston Avenue rocking next season,” he added.
“I love coming in to work at Carshalton and I’m quietly confident we can go one step further next season if we all stick together.”
The new Ryman South season will begin on August 12 with fixtures being announced in July.
Featured image courtesy of Ian Gerrard
