AFTER the drama of the past two weeks, club president Rafi Razzak and the Basingstoke Town board of directors must now turn their attention to finding a new first-team manager.

The board have said that they intend to take their time, decide on a selection criteria, advertise widely and hold in-depth interviews before they appoint a successor to Francis Vines.

Speaking at the fans' forum, Razzak explained the process and stated that he would like people not on the board but with football knowledge to be on a selection committee.

"I know nothing about football, but I do know how to appoint and motivate people," he said.

"The first thing I have asked for is a selection criteria. Paul Carney and Ian Halloway have promised to give me a job description because before we start advertising the job, we need to understand what we want from a future football manager.

"The second thing we need to do is appoint a selection committee to select a manager going forward and I would like to see an independent person who knows about football on this.

"The whole process should be open to outside scrutiny."

Having been handed the task of managing the side until a new boss is appointed, Steve Richardson must be among the favourites for the job - if he decides to apply.

Richardson joined the club as a player in 1995 after a long and distinguished career with Reading. He made 150 appearances for Town as a player before becoming first-team coach under Ernie Howe, moving up to assistant manager under Vines.

He was made caretaker-manager when Vines left the club and will wait to see how he gets on in that role before deciding whether to apply for the manager's job.

"In the past I have been interested in the job, but I will find out in the next few weeks whether it's something I could do," he said.

"I have not really decided at the moment."

Another leading contender could be Peter Gray, who spent nine years as manager of Basingstoke's reserve team, leading the second string to the Suburban League title last season before joining up with Howe as first-team coach at Sutton United.

He knows the up-and-coming players at the club better than anyone and is very well respected by the supporters. But he may feel that the job has come around too soon.

Centre-back and community coach Jason Bristow would also be a popular choice with the fans. He has been at the club since 1999 and has run the club's schools programme for nearly two years.

However, he is only 27 and has no managerial experience, making him an unlikely choice.

Former Farnborough manager Ian McDonald could be a more realistic prospect.

He knows a lot of the players currently at Basingstoke from his time at Cherrywood Road and proved last season that he can work on a tight budget, guiding a young team to 11th place in the Conference South, despite a 10-point deduction after the club went into administration.

Glenn Cockerill is another man who may think he could be successful at the Camrose.

The 49-year-old played in the top flight for Southampton and managed Woking between 2002 and 2007, guiding the Cards to three top-12 finishes in the Conference.

Former Reading and Southampton manager Ian Branfoot could emerge as an outside bet, having recently moved to the area to take up a position at Winchester College.

At 61, he may feel that he is too old to go back into management but he managed both Richardson and Cockerill during their playing days and might be persuaded to join either as some sort of "dream team".

Bashley manager and former Town player Steve Riley, Fleet boss Andy Sinton and current Farnborough manager Andy Clement are three other names who may be tempted to throw their hats into the ring.

8:23am Saturday 22nd March 2008

Print

Email this