Sittingbourne manager Ryan Maxwell looks ahead to new season in the Isthmian League with confidence ahead of games against Deal Town and Margate

There’s been plenty of change at Sittingbourne this summer but they head into a new season with the same manager and the same goals.

Manager Ryan Maxwell’s added 12 new signings to a Sittingbourne side that narrowly missed out on promotion last season and was subsequently plundered of some of the club’s top talent.

Leo Roget has been appointed as assistant boss after Reece Prestedge’s departure while Aaron Lorenston has moved from Whitstable under-23s to take over the vacant head coach role.

Maxwell had eight pre-season friendlies to get his new-look group prepared for the Isthmian South East season ahead, finishing with a 4-1 win at Cray Valley on Saturday.

The Brickies boss said: “We were adding pre-season games in as we went but it was necessary. We needed games.

“Coaching is one thing, but games are another. When you’ve got so many new players, you’ve got to get them out there.

“It’s been a really full-on summer. We’ve made so many new signings and we’ve also got a new backroom team as well. That itself is a lot of shift. You need to get to know people and it takes time.

“It’s been a whole new environment but, really, it hasn’t changed that much. Ultimately, I’m still the manager. I want things done a certain way. The staff knew that before they accepted the roles.

“In terms of personnel, it’s all new, but the culture is the same. That’s where we’ve been trying to educate the new players because everyone’s got their own way of doing things.

“We do it our own way here, which may be different to what other players have come from. That’s taken a bit of time as well but I feel as if the penny’s dropped. We seem to be in a good place right now.

“We cannot be judged on last season. It’s a new team but the goal is the same,