Liam Watson planning overhaul at AFC Telford
AFC Telford United manager Liam Watson today admitted he will be having a clear-out of the players who won the club the Skrill Conference North title.
The Bucks were crowned champions with Saturday's 3-0 victory at home to Gainsborough Trinity, securing an instant return to the Conference Premier.
But Watson knows how difficult it will be to survive in non-league's top flight and concedes a squad overhaul is needed to make sure they are competitive.
The 43-year-old spent three seasons in the Premier with Southport, taking them as high as a seventh place finish in 2012, and will be ruthless in his plans to do the same at the New Bucks Head.
He said: "We go up into the Premier with no excuses. You won't hear me moaning about budgets or loan players or anything like that.
"We have got to make changes. You look at it in the cold light of day and some of the people who got Telford up have played their last game for the club – that's football.
"We can't show loyalty, because we want to keep on improving. We didn't romp this league, Chester did the previous season and they have still been relegated.
"You have got to put that into perspective and then look at where you have got to go, with all the travelling and so on when you are going to the likes of Torquay United.
"If I don't see them as good enough for the next level, I would only be telling them the truth."
Watson's legend in the Conference North was cemented with a third title at the weekend. No manager has won that title more than once.
He laughed: "It's because I keep getting bombed out from the Premier without being relegated! The time I have spent in this division is probably been more down to circumstance.
"I left Southport when they went full-time and, by the time I went back, they had been relegated from the Premier and then it was time to move on again last summer.
"The opportunity to come to Telford was too good to turn down, it's a special football club, even if a lot of people told me I was taking a risk dropping down again.
"You have already witnessed here a lot of what it takes to survive in the Conference Premier. We already have the team spirit.
"The fans have got to stay behind you when you have tough times. I wouldn't be surprised to come back home from a hiding down south, because it happens. It's how you react."
