3 days Ago By [email protected] (Craig Tucker)
Hollands & Blair have moved quickly to appoint a new manager after Clint Gooding stepped down. Darren Blackburn is back in charge after Gooding left for personal reasons, just over a month after succeeding Luke Jessup at Star Meadow. Blackburn spent more than a decade at Blair in a variety of player and management roles before leaving five years ago.
He returns with the club second-bottom in the Southern Counties East Premier Division. There are limited funds available but he’ll be working hard to improve the squad and get Blair out of trouble. “It will be a challenge but it’s a club I think a hell of a lot of and I wanted to go back and help them out,” said Blackburn, who added he was ‘gutted’ to see pal Gooding step down.
“I’ve just got to do what I can to try and make it work. “I’m not deluded, I’m not going there with rose-coloured spectacles, I know there’s a job to be done. “They’re in a situation where they made some decisions, with good intentions, in the last couple of years, that maybe didn’t quite fit the Blair DNA.
“Maybe money became more of a factor for players but that money isn’t there now. “I don’t think it matters if you have or haven’t got money, there’s always scope to change a squad. “It just depends on whether you’ve got the time and the contacts to find the right players and whether or not those players become available.
You need a bit of luck as well. “I’ve worked with enough players over the last four or five years that I like to think I can drag in three or four over the next few weeks to bolster the squad and bring a bit of experience. “It’s a young squad, there’s loads of young talent but you can’t skip phases of your development, it just doesn’t happen.
“It’s all right having youngsters around the team, it’s nice to have them, but I’ve got to worry about the here and now. “Some of them might be ready and some might not be as ready as we’d hoped and they find themselves in a predicament where they’re second-bottom of the league. “You have to rationalise it and try and find players to help you get out of the situation you’re in.
“That’s the biggest part of the challenge, as well as being able to make it worth their while with limited funds available. “It’s got to be the right characters. It’s no good bringing in lads who want to go out and do things on their own, it’s bringing in lads that have got the right mentality as much as anything else.
” Blackburn went on to manage Sittingbourne after leaving Blair, leading them to a top-half finish in Isthmian South East. And he was No.2 under Steve Watt when Hythe upset the odds to reach the play-off final two seasons ago.
Blackburn also had a brief spell at Sheppey over the summer, working heavily on recruitment, before stepping away due to work and family commitments. He returns to Blair with good experience behind him and is ready to take tough decisions. He said: “I am a nice guy, I’ve always been a nice guy and I’ll continue to be a nice guy.
“Unfortunately, the position we find ourselves in, I’ve probably learned that I’ve got to be ruthless. “If that means replacing certain players or I have to bump some of the youngsters down to the under-23s or the reserves, that’s what I’ll do. “It’s not nice and no one’s ever comfortable doing that but the longer you’re in management, the more you appreciate that players do come and go.
“You’ve got make these difficult decisions. “Everyone’s got their opinions, that’s the beauty of the game, but ultimately you’ve got to have an idea in your head of what you’re trying to achieve and how you’re going to achieve it and make decisions based on that strategy. “My strategy will be to try and bring in some experienced players who are on the fringes in Step 4.
“You’ve got to try and pick the ones you know aren’t on horrendous money and then they’ve got to be better than what you’ve got. “The main thing is we focus on Blair and rediscover the DNA that got the club to where it is. “That will be my goal and I’m sure that was Clint’s goal when he took over.
“I haven’t got loads of money, so players need to want to come to the club first and foremost, they want to play for me, they want to dig in and roll their sleeves up and fight. “If I can get those players on board then hopefully things start to pick up and we get some points on the board sooner rather than later.” Hollands & Blair visit Larkfield & New Hythe in the Kent Senior Trophy second round on Saturday and host Erith & Belvedere in the league next Tuesday.
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