John Chand resigned as Holbeach United manager after seeing his side crash out of the UCL Knockout Cup against Potton United on Saturday – and was promptly replaced by Darren Jarvis as Tigers chief.
A 22nd minute goal from Adam Marsh was enough to earn the UCL Division One side a shock – but deserved – win in the Carter’s Park quarter-final.
But the big story came after the final whistle, with Chand stepping down as Holbeach boss just three weeks after his former co-chief Graham Drury did the exact same thing.
A mini-exodus of players has followed, with the Tigers going from being UCL Premier Division title favourites to something of a laughing stock in recent weeks. Indeed, they were forced to ‘borrow’ a host of players from lower-graded Wyberton on Saturday just to get a side out.
Chand, a popular figure at Holbeach having won three trophies with the club in his first stint as manager from 2010-2013, admits that he considered leaving when Drury did.
But he has revealed that he decided to stay on and help chairman Dave Dougill find the right man to replace him. That man is ex-Peterborough Northern Star and Blackstones boss Jarvis, who himself was sacked as Star supremo just a few weeks ago.
Jarvis will be assisted by popular South Holland figure Tom Roberts, who has achieved great success as the manager of Pinchbeck United Sunday in the Spalding and District Sunday League.
In a long and honest interview, Chand confirmed that he had no regrets about coming back to Holbeach last summer. He also revealed that managing Holbeach was affecting his business and private life – and doesn’t expect to return to management for the foreseeable future.
But he has backed Jarvis and Roberts to be a huge success at Carter’s Park and reckons they’ll have to club challenging for honours again in no time.
He said: “For me, I could have done it three weeks ago when Graham did, but I felt it was important not to leave the club in a difficult situation.
“We’ve worked hard over the past few weeks to get somebody in to replace me. I think Darren Jarvis is one of the best young managers around here – and, in my opinion, he’s never really been at a football club that have supported him fully.
“He’ll get that here. From the bottom to the top, there are good people at Holbeach United and they support their managers.
“Tom has a lot of contacts locally – and I think the ideal model to win the UCL is to have players from the local area. I think I proved that when I won it two years ago (with Holbeach).
“They’ll both do a great job here. I’ve been impressed with what Tom as done with Pinchbeck United Sunday. I know how hard it is to get good players to play for a Sunday side – but he’s done that on a regular basis with the top local lads.
“I have no doubt that they’ll be a big hit here. They are two great people that are local and will attract local people. They’ll definitely be a top five team next year.
“Personally, I don’t have any regrets about coming back here. I think the football club wanted to go in a certain direction and it suited me.
“My regret is that we didn’t finish the season. Graham couldn’t see it out – and from my own point of view, I couldn’t do it on my own.
“First thing I said to the lads before the game was that on Tuesday night (2-1 loss at Desborough), it was totally, totally unacceptable for me as a football manager not to get to the game.
“When you get to the stage as a football manager where you can’t get to the game, there’s something wrong.
“I’m really busy with work, but I then find myself going off to Cheltenham tomorrow for eight nights to take in the horse racing, which would mean I’d miss Thurnby on Tuesday and next weekend too.
“It’s just not right. Having two of you there, Graham could have taken things. But we just haven’t got that at the moment unfortunately.
“I didn’t want to just jump ship. Darren will now see the season out – it might be turbulent at times, but there will be no pressure on him.
“I would say that I won’t look to return to management in any time during the next five years.
“The time I had out of it, I could never see how I found the time to do it (management) in the first place.
“Having Graham was the pivotal thing. He would speak to players at night time or go to meet them to get them signed. He looked after that and it took pressure off me.
“In the short space of time that he hasn’t been here, I’ve had players ringing me at night and during the day – and I just don’t have time.
“As a newspaper person, you also know that any time you would ring me I used to answer the phone – and I’d speak to you for as long as you like. That’s not been the case anymore, and is probably an indicator as to what I’ve been up against.
“What I was finding is that on Saturday’s I was having to pay somebody to work so I could be at the football. I don’t take any money out of football myself. The icing on the cake was that I lost the business of a client because I was too busy trying to sign a player for Holbeach.
“You sometimes just have to sit and take stock. I suppose if I really wanted to I could neglect my business to see the season out – but it has been clear to see with the players moving on that not many people have made the sacrifices that I have.
“There comes a time when you need to think of yourself above everything else.
“I don’t take losing very well. If we lose to a side that is better than us, you can take that. I believe this season that we’ve not been beaten by a better side, in my opinion.
“I would never dream of leaving the club on bad terms. I spoke long and hard with Graham when he left and could have gone too.
“Ultimately, I wanted to try and leave the club with some kind of stability – and I think they’ve found that in Darren and Tom.”
A trip to Thurnby Nirvana on Tuesday (7.45pm) will be the first game for Jarvis and Roberts in the Holbeach dugout.
