Parmenter: I will take my time to get the right man

Jim Parmenter insists he is not leaving any stone unturned in his search for a new manager, writes Justin Allen.

The Dover Athletic chairman has spent the majority of his time during the past 10 days talking to candidates about the Crabble vacancy.

And he is wary this appointment could prove to be the most important he will ever have to make - so is not going to rush into making a final decision.

He told www.doverathletic.com :  "We had a surge of applications and they're now beginning to dry up. I've spent the past week-and-a-half talking to a number of people and discussing various plans for how we hope to do things next season.

"I'm looking for us to get a management team in - and the successful applicant has also got to work with us in building a completely new structure at our club.

"All the applicants we've had have different attributes to what they can bring to the job - and we're going to think hard before making a final decision on who will be our new manager.

"This is going to be a completely new broom that we're bringing in - who will hopefully sweep us in the right direction on-the-pitch."

Mr Parmenter added that he had received a number of high-profile applicants but he was not going to make a decision based on a candidate's profile alone. He said: "We want the new man to know this level of football and drive this club forward."

Craig Wilkins, whose contract at the club expired this spring, has signed for Maidstone United.

Stones boss Lloyd Hume has gone on record as saying that he took advantage of Dover not currently having a manager by snapping up the former popular Whites frontman.

But Mr Parmenter said, although there may be some players heading for the Crabble exit during the small window where the club does not have a manager, he is not too concerned.

He said: "Craig goes with our very best wishes - and we got the best years out of him. However, he is getting towards the end of his career and we've got to move forward now.

"It is inevitable that once you make a decision to part company with a manager who has a close bond with a number of players, there's going to be a number of them who want to leave.

"The new manager will come in with fresh ideas and we'll be active in the transfer market this summer. There's no point looking back at the past and former players - it's time to look forward and that's what we're aiming to do now."

Although the club have set themselves a deadline of the end of the month to make the appointment, Jim has not ruled out making the appointment BEFORE the start of June.

He said: "It is quite possible someone could be in place by then - although certainly there won't be any appointment this week."

Visit Dover Athletic’s website: www.doverathletic.com