I feel like I am done with football due to the dishonesty and jobs for the mate's culture, says Nick Gearing, Herne Bay's manager for 27 days

NICK GEARING says he is feeling extremely disappointed with the decision to axe him after 27 days in charge of Herne Bay.

Gearing and his assistants Chris Woollcott and Nicky Lewis were appointed by the Bostik South East Division club on Sunday 28 April 2019.

But there was a boardroom reshuffle at Winch’s Field last night and a new board appointed former Canterbury City manager Ben Smith and his management team of Tim Dixon and Ben Brown today.

Gearing, a coach who worked for Gillingham and Leyton Orient and owns a performance analysis company, was appointed manager by John Bathurst and has not yet taken one training session or one match at Herne Bay.

“In a strange turn of events I can now say that I am no longer the Herne Bay manager without having held a training session or played a game,” Gearing said in his statement that he posted on his Twitter account.

“The club has been taken over by a new consortium who are apparently bringing in their own coaching staff.

“I am extremely disappointed not to even speak to the new consortium before they made their management team decision and I think it epitomises the job for your mates culture that exists at this level and some would argue, stop the level moving forward and becoming more professional.

“I don’t know who the new manager is but I’m disappointed that they went behind our backs and have been planning to take over what was my team, which I believe lacks class on their part.

“This comes as a shock especially as I wanted to make a point of being honest with people as I have said since my original statement to join the club but there is a lot of dishonesty in this situation.

“I offered Alan Birchard a very good role within our first team which he declined but last night I find out that he has become a director of the club and in fact been part of the group deciding to replace me as manager with somebody else.

“I know that my experience would have been invaluable to professionalise a club that clearly needs it in every department, from what happens on the pitch to the social media and fan engagement which has not fulfilled its potential.

“At the committee meeting I went to a few weeks ago, most saw the state of the club, but I saw a lot of opportunity, which again I believe shows the potential improvement that I could have made.

“Along with Chris Woollcott and Nicky Lewis, we have managed to cut last season’s playing budget in half and bring in players that were better than the previous squad and, along with our playing style, I firmly believe would have been capable of reaching the play-offs.

“These players included some of the current best in the league and an ex-pro, but again this is something that Herne Bay FC may miss out on having not even been re-interviewed me for the role.

“Having said this, the new manager will by all accounts have a pot of money to spend, something that we were not offered.

“For me now, I feel like I am done with football due to the dishonesty and jobs for the mate's culture. 

“I am in a position in which last season I turned down an opportunity to work in League One and so football has become less of a priority.  The only roles I will be interested in are first team manager roles with a chairman and committee that have ambition and most importantly, are good people.

“I would like to thank John Bathurst for appointing me originally and completely understand that this is beyond his control.

“I would also like to wish the supporters every success in the future as you were a group of people that I was determined to bring that success to.”

Herne Bay finished in fiffteenth-place (bottom six) in the Bostik South East Division table last season, having collected 38 points from their 36 league games.  They finished 11 points clear of relegated side Greenwich Borough, despite suffering financial problems.

Visit Herne Bay’s website:  www.hernebayfootballclub.co.uk