Matt Cawthorn is adamant that his time with Long Sutton Athletic is over after being sacked as the club’s player/manager on Saturday.
Prolific striker Cawthorn, who scored 35 goals for Sutton as well as steering them to their best ChromaSport PDFL Division One finish since 2014, was relieved of his duties following a telephone conversation with chairman Paul Preston on Saturday.
He claims he was asked to step down as boss and told instead to be a number two to a new manager, believed to be ex-Holbeach United midfielder Omar Joof.
Cawthorn declined the offer and was promptly sacked – and he’s now adamant that he’ll not play for the Magpies again after a lengthy association with the London Road club ended just one year into his three-season plan as boss.
The striker said: “I received a text message from the chairman on Saturday morning asking if I would come to the club with regards to next season, so I sort of knew what was about to happen.
“We ended up having a telephone conversation, where I was informed that the club would like me to step down so a new manager could take over.
“When I declined, I was relieved of my duties with immediate effect. Later in the conversation I was asked to assist the new manager and stay on to play, which I also rejected straight away.
“I’ve always played my best football at the club throughout youth football to now. Some say it’s my comfort blanket, which I probably agree with, but now I think it’s time for a change.
“Playing in a team that I have managed is not what I want to do – which is a shame, because there are some decent lads there.
“Sadly, I believe my time at Sutton is finished, one year into a three-year plan which, by the way, was suggested by the committee last summer.
“The chairman’s words were that the committee had expressed that they didn’t think it was working with me as manager.
“But I know that they went and spoke to “OJ” (Joof) behind my back while the season was still being played out. It’s a bit of a witch hunt.
“We couldn’t even have gone up to the Peterborough Premier Division as the facilities are not up to regulations (the away dressing room is too small) so I’m not sure what the problem is.”
Cawthorn believes that his first season in management was a learning curve, admitting that he had been naïve at times.
As passionate as anybody in the team, he felt that his better than a goal-a-game haul of 35 proved that he could handle the pressures of being a player/manager.
And he had high hopes for next season and felt that, with a few new additions, Sutton could have pushed for a top three finish.
“Personally, I believe we did OK this season,” added Cawthorn. “As for me, scoring 35 goals while missing approximately ten games through injury isn’t a bad return.
“One of the reasons for my dismissal was so that I could concentrate on playing, but I don’t think I could have done a lot more on the pitch.
“We had to build the majority of the squad again last summer, so I think we did well to finish as high as we did.
“Maybe we fell short this season. But we had the consistency of players turning up week in, week out and were able to grind out results with a weakened squad on certain other weeks.
“I hold my hands up, I was learning a lot in the job but I don’t believe the task was too much. Maybe I was simply naive some weeks.
“Nobody wanted to win more than me as a player or manager. With a couple of additions this summer and a good pre-season I firmly believe that we would have been challenging for the top three next season.
“I’d like to thank Phil Ward who came home and away to run the line for us.
“Thanks also to Kev Cawthorn and Kev Rumsey for putting up with a lot being my assistants. I appreciate all that you did for me and the club.
“I’d like to thank Simon Black, who was reserve team gaffer. We spoke regularly until he resigned.
“Also I’d like to thank Martin Ward, who does a lot behind the scenes at the club. The club would be lost without him.
“Biggest thanks go to the lads who played under me this season.
“I’d like to wish the incoming manager all the best and wish the club well.”
