Luke Rooney and Joe Minter put in a tremendous amount of effort but we’re in a results based business and the results haven’t gone our way in the last few weeks, says Glebe chairman Rocky McMillan

GLEBE chairman Rocky McMillan says he will not rush to find a new management team after amicably parting company with Luke Rooney and his assistant manager Joe Minter this morning.


 

The affluent Chislehurst-based club sit in thirteenth-place in the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division table with five wins, three draws and seven defeats from their 15 league games.  The Foxes have scored 33 goals in the league and let in the same number at the other end of the pitch.

Glebe are currently 22 points adrift of league leaders Erith & Belvedere but six points clear of the relegation zone, which contains Canterbury City and Fisher.

The Foxes beat Canterbury City 8-1 at home on 29 October but Rooney admitted he was under pressure following their 5-0 defeat against tenants Stansfeld on 4 November.

But losing 6-3 at home to lower league side Sporting Bengal United in The FA Vase Second Round yesterday proved to be the final straw for owner McMillan and after a post-match meeting and another one this morning, decided it was time for a change.

Rooney, 31, and Minter have both left the club by mutual consent after being in charge of 21 games, winning nine, drawing three and losing nine.  

“Luke Rooney and Joe Minter put in a tremendous amount of effort but we’re in a results based business and the results haven’t gone our way in the last few weeks,” said McMillan.

“It’s certainly not for the lack of trying and endeavour to do well for the club and for themselves in their first job but there’s only so long that you can have those results and I think the guys appreciate that as well.

“It hasn’t been going well for the last few months. We didn’t want to take any drastic action and I was quite happy with the input but the last few weeks we have been leaking a lot of goals and to let in six against Step Six opposition isn’t really good enough.”

Reflecting on Rooney’s under-pressure quotes after losing to a Stansfeld side in second-place and without a playing budget, McMillan said: “We actually played very well at that game but Stansfeld on the night were superb in the 18-yard box and we had an off-night in the 18-yard box and we could’ve been two or three up in the first half but that’s football.

“But at Step Five it’s about defending in your own box and taking your chances when you get them and that was the epitome in that game.

“When Luke says he’s under pressure, he’s under pressure from himself. He's a guy with very high standards and played the game at a higher level and he knows when you lose 5-0 that things aren’t going that well.”

McMillan revealed that recently installed Anwar Uddin, who has joined the executive committee, will be part of the process in finding a new manager.

“I brought in Anwar Uddin into my executive committee and that was with Luke’s blessing.  I’ve got a lot going at the club away from the first-team now and Anwar is hugely experienced with a lot of contacts and he’s managed at National League level and presently he’s assistant manager at England C with a huge amount of contacts within the game so he’ll be able to help with recruitment and expertise.

“The next move we’re looking for is not one just for six to nine months. Anwar is a very important part in the recruitment process.

“We’re looking for a manager for hopefully the next two or three years when we can have a real good go and setting something down at the club that we’ve never had before.

“We’ve gone through far too many managers for far too many reasons and every time we have a manger the important thing is that we want it to be a long-lasting relationship.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t work.”

Glebe finished third behind promoted pair Sheppey United and Chatham Town last season and Rooney previously revealed that he was working with a lower budget than the one that Harry Hudson had at Foxbury Avenue last season.

“I think we’ve been tremendously successful, we’re only nine years’ old as a senior club and when people said to me last season, ‘did you think you failed?’ I don’t understand how you can say that because we were in the title race last season, probably the best the league has ever had against two fantastic teams in Sheppey and Chatham and took four points off them both and both celebrated their 125th anniversaries last year so who’s punching above their weight?

“Our points total last year would have taken us up in 80% of Step Five divisions in the country. I think we’re doing extremely well.

“I’m very aware that we’ve had a few managers. Sometimes people come and go for the wrong reason, a couple of times I’ve made the wrong appointment and I hold my hand up for that.”

McMillan says he won’t rush the decision.

“It doesn’t have to be Monday or Monday week or two weeks. Anwar and myself will sit down tomorrow.  We’re going to sit down and we’ll form a job description, ask people that are interested to send their CV’s and pick the best ones and have a chat and if our requirements and the applicants requirements meet, then we’ll get a deal together.

“For some reason the Glebe job is a real, real pressure pot isn’t it? It’s a real pressure job, perhaps it comes from me? Perhaps I put too much pressure on the manager?

“We’re in a situation now whereby the league position is not that good. Realistically are we in a relegation battle? We’re in the bottom third and that’s not where I want to be.”

“The remit is, it’s almost like a long pre-season.  It has to be the right decision. It’s not going to be a decision that’s being taken in 20 minutes and we’ve got to look at the club and invest in this individual for the next three years.

“It’s a project when he moves on that we’re in a much better state because what tends to happen at Step Five clubs is the manager, assistant moves on the players move on and you’re back to step one.

“We’d like to get out of the league obviously. Sometimes a change is as good as a rest and I don’t mean going down. We’d like to get out of the league and like to meet new friends, play at different grounds but it’s got to be right.

“I’ve been with the club 27-28 years now since it was founded and we’re a very, very strong club, we’re financially strong and we’ve got fantastic premises and whilst I’m around the club, I never want that to change.

“I don’t want to put in stupid money. Every manager who has been here will know the budget. If you exceed it you’ve got to take it off the next week but that’s what you’ve got to spend.

“It’s in the bank and if we bring more in through FA Cup or FA Vase prize money that will go into the players and a percentage will go into the pool.

“We were knocked out of The FA Vase yesterday in our first entrance. Yesterday the winner received £900, the loser was £200.  We were seeded because of our performance last season so we were given a four-round bye, got a home game, get knocked out and get 200 quid.”

McMillan insists 16-goal striker Jamie Philpot, 26, is staying at the club because he is under contract until the end of this season.

He said: “We’re very, very lucky. We’ve got Jamie Philpot, who has been an absolute stalwart again this season.

“Jamie is with us until the end of the season and every year we have the same conversation.  ‘Do you want to stay or do you want to go?’

“He’s been offered Step Two, Step Three clubs this season and I think he’s as good as anything in the National League and I watch a lot of National League football.

“He actually loves the club. He lives at the premises. He loves Chislehurst and he’s really got a load of mates around the club but he’s said football is more than just the pound note. It’s about enjoying your football and the club. If he wants to go at the end of the season, we’re not going to stop him.”

Glebe are at home to fourteenth-placed Bearsted next Saturday 19 November (15:00).