We need to add a bit of flair, says Whitstable Town boss Peter Nott

Thursday 03rd February 2011

WHITSTABLE TOWN boss Peter Nott says the club’s loyal fan base was one of the reasons he accepted the manager’s role at The Belmont club, writes Stephen McCartney.

The Oystermen are the best supported Kent club in Ryman League Division One South but despite just hovering above the relegation zone, Maidstone based Nott jumped at the chance to manage the well liked club.

Despite sitting in nineteenth place in the table, now only a couple of points above the relegation zone following Whyteleafe’s shock 5-4 win at Metropolitan Police last night, Whitstable average league gates of 194 at Belmont.

When speaking about the club’s support, Nott said: “It’s certainly one of the thing that attractive me to the job. They have got a hardcore of fans, they’re regularly in excess of 200, which a lot of the Ryman Premier League club’s would like.”

The former Maidstone United boss added: “We need to give them something to cheer about because I think they’ve been very patient with the team up until now, they’ve been very supportive so it will be nice to give them a couple of results for them to really get behind us.”

Nott takes his side to Burgess Hill Town on Saturday. The Hillians are sitting in fifth place in the table with 44 points from 25 games.

Whitstable have picked up 22 points from 26 games and need the points to climb away from the relegation zone.

“Before I took the job I thought 45 (points was needed to stay up),” said Nott.

“Looking at what the stats have been at the same level, 45 points is what we need to get. It’s a win, lose sequence all the way through. We’ve started off with two draws so we really need to keep that sequence going. We need to get a win on Saturday.”

Whitstable have picked up 10 points out of the 21 available, but have drawn their last three games.

They booked a lucrative trip to Dartford in the quarter-finals of the Kent Senior Cup on Tuesday night, courtesy of a 3-0 home win over Welling United’s academy side. Gareth Cornhill netted a brace, with striker Ian Pulman scoring a late third.

Meanwhile, Nott tells fans that he will stamp his authority on the team.

“I’d like to play more football,” he said. “You’ve seen teams that I’ve managed and I like to play football. We haven’t got that right yet. I don’t think we played football in the first two games that we’ve played. We’ve been tough, we’ve been resilient and we just need to add a touch of flair.

“I think this league, I’ve been surprised how different the style of football is (to the Ryman Premier League). This is a much more physical league, you don’t get a chance to put your foot on the ball so it is that much harder to play football and that’s why I say we need the width. We get that width then we’ll see that quality.”

Visit Whitstable Town’s website: www.whitstabletownfc.co.uk

Burgess Hill Town v Whitstable Town

Ryman League Division One South

Saturday 5th February 2011

Kick Off 3:00pm

At Leylands Park, Maple Drive, Burgess Hill, West Sussex RH15 8DL