WHILE watching the chimney at Blackwell Meadows waiting for the white smoke to rise signalling the naming of a new manager, it got me thinking about all the other managers that have come and gone over the years I’ve been a Darlo fan.

There’s been a fair few. In fact, it must be getting on for nearly twenty if not more. You can categorise them. There’s been the successful managers – Brian Little and Martin Gray; the likeable managers – David Hodgson and Jim Platt; utilitarian managers – Dave Penny and Mark Cooper; and then there’s been the rest.

Usually, when we’ve gone out looking for a new manager, it’s because we were one of the worst teams in the league.  From memory, on three occasions I’ve been genuinely excited about a new manager coming in.  Dave Penny had recent success when he was appointed and that was, at the time, a very ambitious appointment. The third coming of Hodgy was pretty special although the magic of that appointment disappeared almost immediately following the cup defeat at Hornchurch. And then there was the curious case of Paul Futcher.

There was something really exciting when news broke that Darlo were going to appoint a former England international as their next manager. Then, when the announcement came it was a former England under-21 player; okay, that’s a slight downgrade but we can roll with it.  It’s Paul Futcher. Who? Needless to say my expectations were well and truly mismanaged. As it was, he didn’t last long. I’m pretty sure that the club’s directors during the 1990s became quite proficient in the process of interviewing for managers.

In replacing Martin Gray, we find ourselves with a pretty unique set of circumstances to deal with. For a start, we’re replacing a manager who has been wildly successful over a period of time that would have seen five or six managers come and go back in the day.  Despite all of that success, paradoxically, we need the new manager to come in to improve our outlook.

Our new manager is going to have his work cut out. We have a group of players who are good enough to be in and around the playoffs but have looked far from that for most of the season. Organisation seems to be the key going both ways. Defensively, we are all over the place. That might be a bit harsh considering the number of injuries we’ve had amongst the defenders but to be fair, we were poor defensively last season as well. Meanwhile, going forward, we appear to have hit a creative block. Opposition defences no longer seem to be too concerned with the threat we pose.

Hopefully, some new direction and impetus from the sideline will get us out of our dreadful rut and kick start the season. While we’ve played more games than most, the season is still very salvageable. The league is a bit weird that way. Last season, we had a horrible three months and yet were still in the running for the playoffs. This season, we’ve been poor and yet there we are still within touching distance of the playoffs. We should never let that narrow gap mask how poor we’ve been but it’s the one positive to cling to in the hope that someone can come in and turn things around. Hopefully our next manager is up to that challenge. With the festive period almost upon us, let’s remember managers are for two and a half years, not just for Christmas.