By ADEM SARICAOGLU
NEW St Albans Saints coach Toby Paterson has hit back at critics claiming his club has spent heavily on high-profile signings for the upcoming National Premier League One season.
Paterson last week announced former Melbourne Knight Craig Sweeney as the Saints’ latest acquisition after confirming the arrivals of Barry Devlin (Sunshine George Cross) and Felix Rosman (Port Melbourne) last month.
However, Paterson spoke of his disappointment in rumours that St Albans spent large amounts of money on their prized new signings, claiming all three were secured in “shrewd” deals.
“These silly figures that have been quoted are just ridiculous,” Paterson said.
“These guys have been good, shrewd signings for us and I’m getting a bit annoyed that people are labelling us as a club that’s just going out and spending ridiculous amounts of money, and that’s just not true.
“It’s actually caused a little bit of unrest with my players because now all of a sudden they think that these three guys are getting a lot more money and that’s not the case at all. They’ve just been good pick-ups that were available and wanted fresh challenges.”
Devlin and Rosman were both captains at their former clubs, while Sweeney was a regular starter for the Knights in the old Victorian Premier League up until the end of last season.
Paterson said the new signings will help bolster what was the second-most leakiest defence in State League One last year.
“I looked at St Albans last year and watched them two or three times and I felt that their defence had to be strengthened, and I just didn’t think that they had the depth in the squad coming into the pre-season for what was required in the defence,” Paterson explained.
“So I’ve gone for two tall central experienced defenders in Barry Devlin and also Felix Rosman – who’d been offered a new deal by Port Melbourne but decided that the commitment to training three or four nights a week was a bit much.
“The two simply became available and I snapped them up.”
Paterson is also excited by the latest addition of Sweeney.
“He’s a terrific pick-up for us,” he said.
“I’ve known Craig for a number of years and I contacted him when he came back from overseas and sold the club to him, and he was keen to link up with myself and (assistant) Steve Laurie, who he played for at Altona.”
