Vanarama National League Ones To Watch: Part Six

We asked Joe Pope, founder of Off The Line blog to assess the players you should be keeping an eye on next season.

Charlie Barker
After already losing Liam Kinsella, Sam Habergham and Joel Taylor this summer, The Stones needed to add a defender to their squad in the close season. And, they have done that in the form of ex-Stones player Charlie Barker, who returns from Charlton Athletic on a permanent transfer following his release from The Valley.

If he continues in the same vein as he left off in his last spell at Grosvenor Vale, Stuart Maynard has pulled off another top transfer.

Barker impressed during his last loan at Wealdstone, one of many Addicks youngsters to have shone under the guidance of Stuart Maynard, and so it will come as little surprise that Maynard has acted quickly – and leant on the financial support of the fan base – to prize him away from The Valley and land his services on a permanent basis.

As you would expect for a player joining a Stuart Maynard side, he is technically-accomplished making him an ideal fit for this Stones passing philosophy. He is forward-thinking, progressive and looks to pick a pass in under pressure situations.

There is a real maturity about his game, he is an intelligent operator and he carries the ball well through the thirds; in short, everything good about the success Maynard has had at Wealdstone.

Maynard is a brilliant coach and has a track record of being able to work with and improve younger players, and having already familiarised himself with the way Stones play, I have no doubt that Barker will follow suit and develop into a top prospect.

He has had a strong technical grounding during his time at Charlton Athletic in an academy known for its ability to produce good players, and Barker will follow in the footsteps of fellow Addicks defender Lucas Ness and Deji Elerewe to have excelled in the National League.

Ben Stephens
This season is by no means going to be all plain-sailing for King’s Lynn Town; at the very least, it won’t be as easy. They are going to need everyone to elevate their game to new heights if they are to mount another promotion charge this term. And, after the exit of star striker Gold Omotayo this summer, the existing crop of strikers are going to have to step up to the plate and thus one player I think could well excel is Ben Stephens.

Stephens is a striker that I have always been a big time admirer of, a hard-working forward that very much provided the antithesis to Omotayo last term; while Omotayo was the robust, back-to-goal type, Stephens provided the energy, the running, the dynamism and the work-rate alongside him to provide the perfect foil. He also had nine goals to boot for The Linnets in the league.

They will need a striker to transform their output if they are to sustain lofty ambitions, and I am backing Stephens to do that. He has shown in his career that he can be prolific – albeit at a lower level – with good goals-to-game ratios for Stratford Town, Kettering Town and more recently Barwell, and I think that with the right supply line he can thrive.

He got a big move earlier in his career when Macclesfield Town – as it was at the time – taking the chance on him in the EFL. While it didn’t work out all that well for Stephens then, I think it underlines his quality and ability to indeed play higher.

His game is built on his work-rate and ability to run in behind, and I think that is often over-looked. There is definitely a player in there, and I think Linnets have merely seen him scratch the surface of his potential thus far during his time with them. He has another gear to go to, and I think this year we will see that.

Will Dawes
It is fair to say that his time at Yeovil Town so far has not been all rosy; he has found game time limited since his move from Stratford Town.

However, I think that after a couple of loans in the sixth tier last term and Yeovil Town’s subsequent relegation to the National League South, I think that the 2023-24 campaign may well be a breakthrough one for Will Dawes and one in which he thrives under the pupillage of Mark Cooper.

Cooper spent time with Oxford City last season, and albeit only brief, he contributed to them being promoted under Ross Jenkins. And, having been retained by The Glovers upon their relegation, I think that he will go a long way as to helping another side get promoted to the fifth tier.

Mark Cooper’s system is tactically fluid, with an onus on players to mobile and interchange in transition, and all the while have a composure and confidence in possession to play.
In this regard, Will Dawes ticks a lot of boxes for Mark Cooper; he is versatile – capable of playing as a winger, a wing-back or more centrally – is tricky and intricate on the ball, and is a good athlete.

Dawes is very much still in the early part of his professional career, but there is room for improvement and I think he will be one of the standout performers for The Glovers next term and exactly the sort of player that Cooper will enjoy working with.

He has the technical and athletic grounding, and it is now about adding the tactical knowledge to his game. If he can take on board the coaching Cooper does and respond positively, I think he will end up as one of the standout forward players in the division.