Boothroyd pledges Cobblers will be a ‘new team’ and ‘better team’ next season

Boothroyd is enjoying a short holiday following a hectic season that ended in play-off final heartbreak as the Cobblers were beaten 3-0 by Bradford City at Wembley.

The Cobblers manager’s focus is already on strengthening the squad for the new npower League Two campaign that kicks off on August 3.

And although Boothroyd won’t be sitting in his Sixfields office, he will still be active while on holiday.

“I will be having a week away but my phone won’t be too far away from my side because we need to improve upon where we were last season,” said the Cobblers boss.

“We’ve got some good lads but we need to add to them and build on what we’ve already got if we want to be better.

“We’ll bring a few in and it will be a new team again, a better team and a better model.

“It’s like a Formula One car, you have to keep improving it or the opposition catches you up.

“We have some work to do to get to the standards we were up to in the second half of the season.”

Boothroyd released seven players last week, including leading scorer Adebayo Akinfenwa, while central defender Clarke Carlisle announced his retirement from football.

Skipper Kelvin Langmead and defender Lee Collins have already signed the new deals offered to them, but Boothroyd is still waiting on answers from Ben Tozer, Ben Harding, Luke Guttridge, Nathan Cameron and Roy O’Donovan.

The Town boss knows where he wants to strengthen, and says it is the atacking third that needs the most attention.

“I think we need either one or two wide players, we might need another front player and we certainly need another goalkeeper,” said Boothroyd.

“I’m pretty happy with the back four and I’m pleased with the central midfield area.

“We’ve made offers to a couple of players that I’m confident they’ll take, and we’ve got Lewis Hornby, who has given us a lot to be excited about with his first season.

“But the wide areas and the forward players are where the goals come from and I want us to be more creative and athletic and get some more goals there.”