Diamonds target ‘right man in a good timeframe’ in hunt for next manager

Whoever comes in will have a big job on their hands with Diamonds currently lodged in the relegation zone in the Southern League Premier Central and nine points adrift of safety following Tuesday night’s 3-1 home defeat to leaders Tamworth – Diamonds’ sixth loss in a row.

The team is currently being guided by interim manager Matt Vernon but, behind the scenes, the new-look board at Hayden Road, which was elected in just over two weeks ago, have been continuing their search for a permanent replacement for Richard Maxwell who was sacked shortly after the new board came into power.

And new club chair Rob Usher knows they must find “the right man in a good timeframe”.

“The current situation is that there was an advert put out, which closed at 5pm last Tuesday,” Usher said.

“We had somewhere around 19 applicants, we managed to draw up what we think is a good, healthy shortlist from that and interviews are under way.

“It’s important to get the right man. We don’t have unlimited time but I think we are confident that we have a good shortlist and a good system to make sure we do get the right man in a good timeframe.”

While relegation back to Step 4 isn’t a certainty, the odds are currently stacked against Diamonds after a torrid campaign so far.

Usher, naturally, is maintaining belief that a great escape can be pulled off but, at the same time, he admitted the club has to take a pragmatic approach with how things stand at the present time.

“At the moment, we are cemented in the relegation spots but maths is still on our side,” he said.

“That said, we have had a lot of discussions about the pragmatism that is needed.

“There is a very real chance we will drop out of the league and we need to have a plan for what that looks like and we are working out what that looks like.

“We need to hope that’s a plan we don’t have to execute but the new-look board are now the custodians of the club and we have to do what’s right for the club so we would be silly not to have a plan for Step 4.

“But, right now, our full focus is on not going down.”