Paulton Rovers are on the look-out for new management after the resignation of Richard Fey and Nathan Rudge was announced last week. The pair joined the team back in May, after being headhunted for the positions. Fey was the Manager of Bridgwater Town and Rudge, Manager at Chippenham Town, taking up the Manager and Assistant Manager posts at Paulton respectively.
With no wins in fourteen matches, Fey’s last game in charge was last Tuesday evening, where Rovers lost 2–1 to Merthyr Town. Richard Fey stepped into the shoes of Nick Bunyard nearly five months ago, however, Bunyard’s departure also saw other players follow and the side this season has been dogged with injury, lying firmly at the bottom of the table.
Coach, Aaron Brown, has taken on training for the team and is the current caretaker manager. In a statement on its website, Paulton Rovers said: “The club would like to express their thanks for the hard work that both Richard and Nathan have done this season and wish them every success in the future.”
Speaking this week to The Journal about his departure, Richard Fey said: “When Rovers’ Chairman approached me at Bridgwater, it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down, it was a big challenge and nobody could have predicted how big an overturn of players we’d have in such a short space of time.
“I only had five players left from last year and then for one reason or another, all five had gone by September. It was a brand new team and we just couldn’t get the results. We won two Cup games and had some draws, but losing against Slough and Merthyr when we deserved something out of it was really difficult.
“I thought it was best that someone else had the chance to keep the side in the league. Everyone has been saying in hindsight I could have stayed and waited for players to get fully fit, but to be honest, it has been soul-destroying losing every week.
“It’s a good club and behind the scenes, they are brilliant. At the end of the day, I’m the one who signed the players and is judged by the results, so I think it’s best someone else gives it a go now. It is hard work when you can’t get players in and people are turning you down when they are in the league below. If I had the same team at the start of the season, we wouldn’t be having this conversation now. I
rebuilt three teams in twelve weeks and only had four players in my last game that started the season.
“Its hard to rebuild a team at any level, but at this level its even harder with the
lowest budget in the league.
“Some players wanted to move on and go higher up and I can’t blame them, but it was just non-stop. In the end, you think, this job doesn’t pay the mortgage and it is a really hard thing to do. I gave it sixteen games. That night at Merthyr was really hard.
“Nathan (Rudge) has had a few offers as a player, so he’ll be waiting for another opportunity to come along. We haven’t really spoken about it yet, but maybe we will find ourselves working together in the future. He just wants to get fit and concentrate on playing for now.
“Hopefully Paulton Rovers will give Aaron Brown the job, because he got a good result on Saturday. But whoever goes in there next needs a goalscorer. It’ll be hard because of the eleven point gap, but there’s still another ninety or so points up for grabs, they could stay up if they can get forty. Aaron has worked hard and deserves the opportunity.
“I do wish the club all the luck in the world, it just didn’t work out for me. I had to be honest with myself and the club.
“I’ve had a couple of offers for helping out other clubs, but since I was a kid, I’ve always been involved in football. If something comes along I may go back in to management, but if it doesn’t, I’ll carry on watching and supporting friends – but it was strange not going to football on Saturday, I must admit. I’ve definitely learnt a lot from the whole experience, it’s a massive learning curve and that’ll stand me in good stead for the next job.
“The task was harder than I thought, but one I have no regret in accepting.”
Paulton Rovers have said this week that whilst there has been plenty of interest in the Manager’s position, Aaron Brown will be continuing as Caretaker Manager at
present.