Maidstone United caretaker manager George Elokobi explains club's recruitment process

George Elokobi says Maidstone’s recruitment is very much a team effort.

Elokobi gave a debut to Kevin Berkoe at Solihill on Saturday, having signed the left-back on loan from League 2 club Solihull until the end of the season.

He follows the recent arrivals of wide players Mark Marshall and Josh Shonibare, as Maidstone fight to stay in the National League.

Elokobi has been learning on the job as caretaker manager, with his positivity, motivational qualities and tactical awareness in difficult circumstances impressing the Stones hierarchy.

Recruitment is another major part of management, of course, and Elokobi, who takes Maidstone to Wealdstone tonight, says it’s about working with those around him.

“It’s not just myself,” he said. “Behind the scenes there’s obviously the scouting department that helps us out as a management team.

"We come together, we analyse the player and see if he’s going to be right fit for us, for the way we play and also the right character to join with our squad.

“There’s several factors when we want to try and bring a player in to ensure that he fits with our philosophies and our values as a club.

"For someone like Kevin to come to our attention it’s all about the scouting team we’ve got in Zach Foster-Crouch (chief scout) and he identifies a lot of these players.

“Also, when he does this, we do a lot of due diligence behind the scenes to make sure he’s the right fit for our group of players and Kevin definitely fits that.

“That’s why we’ve got the management team and everyone plays a key role within that set-up.

“I’ve got a fantastic management team behind myself.

"As a club, we’ve got a great set-up behind the scenes and we have to keep going and keep trying to improve the squad as and when we