Boss Steve Lovell has welcomed the arrival of new Herne Bay chairman Matt Barman and hopes he can help take the club to the next level.

Lovell and son-assistant Mark Lovell built a new-look squad on limited resources and secured an eighth-placed Isthmian South East finish for Bay, narrowly missing out on the play-offs.

Now, they will work with three new directors at Herne Bay, headed up by ex-Lordswood manager - and former Whitstable reserves boss - Barman as club chairman, as well as directors Chloe Gardner and Jeff Hammond.

Lovell said: “Obviously, the new chairman (Barman) has come in.

“He’s trying to do so many positive things at the club.

“With the way the club has been - the year before last in particular - Chloe, Martyn (Sexton) and John (Bathurst) have done a great job in stabilising the club. Me and Mark did a decent job of stabilising things on the pitch, as well.

“Now, we want to take it further if we can. But the main thing is the stability of the club.

"Matt has got some great ideas.

“I think it’s a good thing for the club and, hopefully, we can have a good season.”

The Lovell duo needed little convincing to stay on, despite the changes behind the scenes, by the new-look board.

“Speaking to them, it was all positive,” he said. “Matt was well-pleased with what we did last year.

“We didn’t quite get over the line (and make the play-offs), but we want to take it further.

“I think me and Mark changed things around big time at the club - not just with the players. With the supporters, as well.

“The players were brilliant. They were lovely people and worked really hard on the training field.

"We’ll want more of the same this year.”

Herne Bay will target a top-five finish during the 2024/25 campaign but, with some clubs again likely to have much bigger budgets, there will not be any undue pressure to secure a play-off place.

Welshman Lovell explained: “Last year was the same. No one put any pressure on us to get promoted. It was about stabilising the club.

“But, when you get into that position, me and Mark had already spoken about it, and we weren’t going to settle for mediocrity or finishing in mid-table.

“We want to finish as high as we can.

"It’s going to be a little bit easier this year because we have got the nucleus of the squad and we only need a couple of additions.

“We just need to make sure we’re a little bit better in certain areas.

"If we can do that, I think we will be fine.”

While Herne Bay’s budget won’t be the division’s biggest, you won’t find former Gillingham boss Lovell complaining too much about that.

“That’s never been a problem with me - even at Gillingham,” the 63-year-old said. “You know your budget and work with it, that’s all you can do.

“I’m never going to go to a chairman - whether it’s Paul Scally at Gillingham or Matt at Herne Bay - and ask for this or that. I know my budget and will work within that.

“I think there’s so many clubs spending a lot of money on players throughout non-league (football) to try and help them progress.

“But it’s not easy. Just because you have got a bigger budget than other sides, that doesn’t mean you’ll get promotion.

“The big thing for me is getting the chance to try and compete against them. I’m hoping, with support, that we will be able to this year.”

Bay have also fended off serious competition to retain prolific striker Michael Salako.

Lovell noted: “With him scoring 27 goals, he would have had a lot of interest.

“But he loved working with me and Mark. He had a good rapport with the supporters - as most goal scorers do - and he was persuaded to stay with us. It wasn’t so much us persuading him, he was happy to stay.”

Lovell has also outlined his plans to the rest of his 2023/24 playing squad.

“I know the ones I want to stay but, if players go off to other clubs, I cannot stop them,” he said. “But what I will say is that we will have a squad in by June 29 when we return for pre-season, it soon comes around, and there will be competition.

“Every player should be desperate to show their best because, ultimately, the best ones will be the ones that start the season."

Ex-Herne Bay defender Gary Sayer and Billy Surbey have been appointed as the club’s new under-23s management team.

Dan Tanner has also joined Herne Bay as director of football.