WHEN I saw that Aldershot Town had sacked manager Andy Scott on Wednesday morning, my first thought was to wonder whether the club would view Basingstoke Town boss Jason Bristow as a possible replacement.

I can’t claim to be a hardcore Aldershot fan, but I try to get to matches when work commitments allow. Having seen Jason in action over the last three years, he would be in consideration were I drawing up a shortlist of potential candidates for the job.

In his first few months as Town boss, Bristow led what looked like a mid-table team under Frank Gray into the Conference South play-offs. His man-management shone through during that spell, fostering a really good team spirit and getting an extra 10 per cent of performance out of every player during the run-in.

A difficult first full season followed, but Bristow managed to recover the situation and lead the club to mid-table safety.

Last season, Bristow took the decision to change the way his side played, looking to play a high-tempo style based on keeping possession and passing the ball out from defence.

It was a brave move, and one that didn’t bear fruit straight away, but Town were never in danger, finishing in a comfortable mid-table position and winning the Hampshire Senior Cup.

This season, with a year of playing in this new way behind them and some really good additions, Basingstoke are doing really well. They go into tomorrow’s massive game against Bromley fourth in the table and still very much in with a chance of challenging for the title.

I must point out that I have not spoken to Jason about this, but if he wants to move up the league ladder, then I think he’s more than ready. He’s a really good man-manager, an astute tactician and after making some early mistakes when it came to recruitment, his summer signings show that he has learned some valuable lessons.

I’m far from sure that Bristow would want to leave Basingstoke though. He has really strong ties with Basingstoke, his hometown club, and while Aldershot have Football League potential, would he want to swap a Conference South title race for a Conference Premier relegation battle?

There is a limit to how far he can take Basingstoke, particularly with the new stadium a far from done deal, but I’m not sure things would be much better at cash-strapped Aldershot.

There is also job security to consider. Due to his close ties with the club, even when things weren’t going well, Town fans have been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, while in Rafi Razzak, he has a really patient chairman.

By contrast, Aldershot have sacked three managers in the last four years – and if the board have very little patience, the supporters have even less. Scott’s departure came less than 12 hours after fans demonstrated against him following the defeat to Kidderminster.

He’s not the first manager to get the sack after incurring the wrath of the fans. It’s a trend that dates back 15 years, when George Borg found his position untenable after the support turned against him.

They’re not always wrong, but you have to question how much of a chance they would give to a manager like Bristow.

Looking at Aldershot's internet forum yesterday, there were plenty of calls for Scott to be replaced by another manager with Football League experience. Bristow certainly isn’t the big name that a lot of them crave and when you add in the fact that he has such a strong connection to Basingstoke, historically one of Aldershot’s rivals, I wonder whether he would be given a fair crack of the whip.

If I’m honest, I think it's a mistake, but I don’t see Aldershot making any sort of approach for Bristow. Their last five managers, Terry Brown, Gary Waddock, Kevin Dillon, Dean Holdsworth and Andy Scott, have all been fairly big-name appointments, and I imagine they’ll go down a similar route again.

It’s not a policy that has worked very well, particularly in recent years, but if they stick to it, Basingstoke would be the beneficiaries.

How much longer Bristow’s talent will go unnoticed by clubs higher up the ladder remains to be seen, but everyone with an interest in Basingstoke Town should be hoping that he continues to be overlooked for a good while longer.

Despite my links to Aldershot, I also hope that Bristow remains at The Soccer AM Stadium. He's a dream to deal with from a journalistic point of view and it would be great to see him achieve something really special with the club that means so much to him.