The methods of Maidstone United boss Hakan Hayrettin after he's named National League South manager-of-the-year

Maidstone boss Hakan Hayrettin says he is honoured to be named National League South manager-of-the-year.

Hayrettin received the award after leading the Stones to title glory in the first completed season since he took charge two years ago.

They were unfancied against big-spending rivals such as Dorking, Ebbsfleet and Havant, but Hayrettin moulded a championship-winning squad.

He’s been recognised for his achievements, while 22-goal top scorer Joan Luque is named the league’s player-of-the-year.

The Spanish winger is one of three Stones players in the team-of-the-season, along with left-back Jerome Binnom-Williams and centre-half Joe Ellul.

“I’m honoured and privileged to accept the accolade of manager-of-the-year,” said Hayrettin.

“I’m the figurehead but I’ve got a great team of people working with me who I couldn’t have done it without.

“I’ve pushed the buttons of other people to get what I wanted, I can’t do it by myself.

“It’s my ideas, my philosophy and my ethos that helped us get there but I’ve had to, along with my staff, get the best out of people, and we’ve done it.

“I play aggressive, everything I do, I want to win. I’m intense, everything is based on winning for me.

“I go back to that bad spell we had in October/November, I didn’t waver in my beliefs and to compete with the other teams and go on the run we did was unbelievable.

“Every manager wants to be the best they can, regardless of finance or budgets.

“I knew what I wanted, I implemented what I wanted, I never went away from that.

“I stuck to it and believed in it. I’m like that as a person, I was like that as a player, I’m like that as a manager.

“The more aggressive you become, the more chance you’re going to have success.

“The more aggressively you