Former manager Paul Davis not ruling himself out of becoming Stratford Town boss for second time after Gavin Hurren left to join Hednesford
Paul Davis isn’t ruling himself out of the race to become Stratford Town’s new manager.
The Bards are looking for a new boss after Gavin Hurren left to take over at Hednesford last week.
Head coach Davis was placed in caretaker charge alongside Chris Hussey and together they led Stratford to a 1-0 victory at Hitchin on Saturday.
There’s big interest in the position, with Stratford just outside the play-off places in Southern League Premier Central.
Davis has previously managed Stratford, leading them to a fifth-placed finish and a place in the FA Cup first round.
He could be up for a second stint as boss but ultimately just wants what’s best for the club.
“I know there’s been a large number of applicants, which is natural, and we’ll just see how we get on, I suppose,” said Davis, who is preparing the team for this Saturday’s home game against Bishop’s Stortford.
“Let’s see what happens.
“One thing I don’t think we need is for a manager to come in and bring a load of new players in and rip the group up.
“I don’t think that’s what we need and the chairman knows that’s not what we need.
“You can see that by the results and by the players that have been there the last three, four, five seasons.
“I think there’s probably five or six players in our dressing room who are very close to 100 games for the club or are already past it, so the players obviously like it there.
“You don’t need somebody coming in and ripping all that up.
“It’s a results-driven business. If you get a few results, you might get the opportunity to do it again; if you don’t get the results, you won’t.
“I’m not against it but I’m not knocking his door down to get it either.
“I just want what’s best for the football club.”
Davis was aware of rumours linking Hurren with a move to Hednesford, who were in the market for a manager after sacking Steve King.
Hurren confirmed their interest and informed Davis he would be leaving.
“It was a bit of a whirlwind but I was working with the group anyway and we weren’t trying to sign any players or anything like that, so it was quite seamless in the end,” said Davis.
“There’d been some rumours around the non-league circuit that Hednesford were interested in him but me and Gav had quite a close relationship and I’d like to have thought he’d have told me if anything was happening.
“He told me on the Thursday, to say they’d spoken to him, and on the Saturday at Sudbury, before the warm-up, he said he was going to take the job, so it happened quite quickly.
“There’s lots of things to it. Logistically, it’s closer to his house.
“They’ve got serious financial backing at the minute and it’s a big club.
“He’d done well at Stratford and wanted a new challenge, I suppose.”
Davis and Hussey were swiftly placed in caretaker charge, with Dan Lafferty scoring the only goal at Hitchin.
“We changed the shape at Hitchin to be a bit more robust,” said Davis.
“We’ve been quite good away from home anyway.
“We weren’t good at Sudbury, which was our last away game, so we changed it to be a bit more solid.
“The conditions were horrendous - you wouldn’t sell many DVDs of the game.
“But it was a good away performance - professional.
“We were a little bit scruffy in the final third. If we’d have been slightly better we could have won a bit more convincingly but we’ll take three points and move on.
“In fairness to the group they’ve been brilliant.
“The way me and Gav worked, I took a lot of the training anyway and was spending a lot of contact time with players, so nothing has really changed.
“We’ve done OK this season, so it’s not a case of we’ve been struggling, the manager goes and we need a bit of a bounce. We’re just going to carry on doing the right things that we’ve been doing.”
Victory at Hitchin left the Bards outside the play-offs on goal difference.
Whoever succeeds Hurren will be tasked with challenging for a top-five finish.
“That’s the aims and expectations of the football club,” said Davis.
“When I was there before we finished fifth and got to the first round proper of the FA Cup.
“It sort of put Stratford on the map a little bit, and now the expectations and ambitions of the football club are can we get up to the next level?”
This weekend’s opponents, Bishop’s Stortford, sit in mid-table following relegation from National League North.
Ex-Royston boss Steve Castle is the new man in charge this season.
“He’s managed a lot of games in the league, he knows the league,” said Davis.
“They’re big, strong, physical, a good side, and I expect them to be there or thereabouts come the end of the season. Hopefully we can start turning it on at home.”
There’s good news on the injury front with forward Jamie Molyneux closing in on a return.
He’s back running after suffering a serious groin injury during pre-season.
“He ripped his groin off the bone, it was a bad injury,” said Davis.
“They didn’t know whether he would need surgery.
“But because it took so long between the scan and the results, the doctor decided it had probably already reattached itself, so he wouldn’t need surgery.”
