MARINE boss Dave Webb has vented his frustration at the rules which prevent him from tying down his team for next season.

The Webb’s Wood Stadium chief is feeling confident with his progress in the off-season, with almost all of the squad from last season giving him verbal commitments to stay.

Webb has also been speaking to the players he is targeting as new additions to his side, but remained tight-lipped about those potential incomings.

Having had most of May to get potential recruits for the new season in place, Webb would like to make those plans official, but has been frustrated by the system for signing players.

Managers in the Southern League have to wait until the registration forms are released, which is still more than a month away, before they can confirm who is signing on.

Therein lies the issue for Webb, who does not want to name his targets at the risk of other clubs stealing in ahead of him.

“Myself and Jez Webb, the chairman, have been meeting and talking to players. They’re all keen, they like what we have to say, but I have no 100 per cent firm commitment from anybody yet,” said Webb.

“Even if we did have, that could change. If I had eight players lined up, I wouldn’t want to say because it alerts other clubs to them.

“We need a minimum of three or four players to come in. We are looking and we’ve spoken to players, but I can’t believe at this club we can’t sign anybody until the registration forms come out.

“It would nice when you’ve got verbal agreement to have a form to say you’re registered to Swindon Supermarine Football Club. At the moment, you can’t do that.

“You could have another manager who thinks ‘they’re a good player, I’ll give him a call’. They offer them another few quid and all of a sudden, the player has had a change of heart.

“It does make me chuckle when you go on to club websites and they say we’ve signed this player and this player – well they might have, but I’d rather be talking about who we’re bringing in and what we’re going to do when I’ve got those players on a form.”