Ninth-place is still not good enough for a club like Tunbridge Wells, admits boss Jason Bourne

TUNBRIDGE WELLS manger Jason Bourne says he is putting faith in young blood alongside the class of 2013.

 

The Wells climbed up to ninth-place in the Southern Counties East Football League table following their emphatic 7-2 win at basement side Holmesdale.

Tunbridge Wells were 5-0 up inside 31 minutes, 6-0 up after 48 minutes, before Danny Akers scored two debut goals from long-range.

Joe Nwoko and Chris Seenan both scored hat-tricks and Rikki Cable scored against his former club.

Tunbridge Wells host second-placed Greenwich Borough at Culverden Stadium tomorrow.

Ian Jenkins’ side are three points adrift of league leaders Hollands & Blair, who claimed back-to-back Kent Invicta League titles.

“Greenwich are starting to play like they should have been if you know what I mean,” said Bourne, who takes charge of his sixth game in charge tomorrow.

“They’re a very good side, got a lot of quality. They’ve got a very good result against Crowborough, they’ve picked up form.

“For me, I’ve said all along, they’re the ones to beat this year. They’re the ones now. They’ve got themselves together.  I think they’ll go on and really push it along to win the league.

“It will be a tough game but we’ll equip ourselves the best we can and see what we can do.”

Bourne revealed that he has not set his side any targets this season.  The club are 18 points adrift of the league leaders.

“It’s still not good enough for a club like Tunbridge Wells, make no bones about it,” said Bourne.

“It’s a lot better than it was at the beginning of the evening. We’re in a situation we’re not going to look into too much, just see where we go.

“I said (when I took over from Keith Bird) I want the team shape as I want it. We’re not going to get carried away. It’s all about building something.

“We just want to carry on those improvements all the way through. I’m sure there will be bad days at the office as well as good days.

“I haven’t set myself a target in terms of points or anything like that. The target for me is more development.  When I took the job the board said to me ‘consolidation’ this year will be fine.

“We worked a little bit reducing the wage budget, only off my back. The club has kept the budget as it is. They budget properly for the whole season so there’s no pressure on that but equally I don’t want to waste the club’s money. It’s a club I love. I don’t want to waste their money by finishing nowhere.

“The fans deserve a certain something and I want to make sure that standard’s delivered regardless of what we’re doing with the budget or not.”

Right-back Bourne revealed that he has hung up his boots.

“I always miss playing, especially when times are bad on the pitch because I want to go and influence it. I’m that type of person.

“That’s me done. If you ask any manager who used to play, especially if the club that they’re now managing, I’m sure they’ll all say they’d all like to play but it’s all about nurturing kids through and if I’m playing it’s somebody else who isn’t so I’d rather find the next one to come and fill my boots and come through the ranks.”

Visit Tunbridge Wells’ website: www.tunbridgewellsfc.com

Tunbridge Wells  v  Greenwich Borough
Southern Counties East Football League
Saturday 5^th December 2015
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Culverden Stadium, Culverden Down, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN4 9SG