I felt the time was right to step down and appoint Bradley Quinton as new manager, says Welling United chairman Mark Goldberg

WELLING UNITED chairman Mark Goldberg has revealed the time was right to step down from the role and appoint Bradley Quinton as the clubs new manager.

Quinton, 41, was appointed as the clubs new manager on Tuesday afternoon and took charge of Welling United’s 2-1 home defeat to Isthmian League South East Division side Whitstable Town in the Kent Senior Cup Second Round that evening.

Goldberg won only nine of his 32 games in charge in all competitions this season and the club have now lost their last six games.

Welling United have dropped into the bottom three in the Vanarama National League South table with 23 points from their 24 league outings and are level on points with the side in the relegation zone, St Albans City and only five points clear of basement side Hungerford Town.

“Well Brad actually applied for the position before we appointed Steve King so we’ve been in touch over quite a long period of time,” Goldberg told www.wellingunited.com.

“When I decided to take on the role myself and he contacted me there in that instance as well and as my interviews were saying along the way I might be stepping down at some stage, he carried on being quite persistent in his approach to me so it was obvious for me to pick up the phone when I felt the time was right to at least introduce him to the interviewing process.

“What I’m pleased about Brad, his track record speaks for itself. He’s worked with a club with a limited budget and he managed to get Braintree promoted (to the National League) through the play-offs and I think he’s the right character and he has the right experience to help us out where we are today.

“Although it’s happened very suddenly to the outside world is concerned, it was while I was in Tenerife during the Christmas period and I knew something had to change.  The results weren’t going our way and I picked up the phone to Brad and we even started talking about what changes we needed to be made before we actually made the final appointment on Tuesday afternoon.”

Welling United have lost the services of Danny Waldren and Ejiro Okosieme, who have both decided to join Glenn Tamplin at Isthmian League Division One North basement side Romford – a drop of two levels.

Goldberg has also announced left-back Joe Anderson and striker Moses Emmanuel have departed and centre-half Jay Rich-Baghuelou is closing in on a move to Premier League side Crystal Palace.

“Danny Waldren and Ejiro Okosieme have gone to Romford to join Glenn Tamplin and we obviously wish them all the best for their future. I’m really grateful for what they brought to the party,” added Goldberg.

“Danny Waldren has become a close friend of mine over the years and he’s been excellent for us and Ejiro is still a great prospect.

“The new manager wants to bring in his new faces and the opportunity was there for certain players to go and free up some money, then it makes sense for us to act.

“Joe Anderson is also a player whose played for me over many years and it was time for us to part company and also Moses Emmanuel has left.

“It’s not a question of the new manager deciding how he spends his money, one has to free up money in order for Brad to bring in his own players and to bring his own style of play, unfortunately players have to leave in order to facilitate that.”

Goldberg added: “We’ve had an offer from Crystal Palace Football Club for Jay Rich-Baghuelou, which we have accepted but it’s not formally over the line yet, so it’s one of those that we would wish him all the best for his future career and we’d be delighted if it works out and it actually completes and Jay can be a great prospect for the future that we can say we’ve had however a small part we’ve had in his journey.”

Quinton faces a baptism of fire for his first National League South game in charge of the club as he takes his side to league leaders Wealdstone on Saturday.

The Stones are four points clear of Bath City and with a game in hand but they went down to a 3-1 defeat at Billericay Town on Tuesday night, which was their sixth league defeat in 24 games this season.

“We have to work together in order to bring in the right players and the aim is that we’ll have at least three, if not four players in place for the game on Saturday,” revealed Goldberg.

“As it stands we’re in constant communication and we will have to make those replacements and we have to have the foundations in place to make sure we go there on Saturday believing that we can win.”

The club confirmed tonight that coaches Hugo Langton and Osei Sankofa have departed as Quinton looks set to bring in his own management team.

Visit Welling United’s website: www.wellingunited.com