"TOO MANY MANAGERS DON'T GET A CHANCE"
Trevor Mulligan talks to Cray Manager, Ian Jenkins
Thursday 1 October 2009

I was pleased to be able to pass some time with Ian Jenkins this morning, and our conversation centred around his 10th anniversary of being in charge of the Wands.

"Yeah, obviously I'm very proud of the achievement. Gary (Hillman) has stuck with me over the years.

"I couldn't have done it without my management team, though," Ian added, continuing, "I'm lucky to have had Joe (Francis) with me since 2001, and Blado (Paul Blade) when he arrived two or three years ago. We've had a bit of a change of staff over the years. I've been fortunate to have the services of physios John (de Palma), Katie (Cheeseman) the last couple of years and Mike (Reeves) this season, they've all done their bit for the team."

Ian was also not slow to praise the support of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman.

"Gary and Johnny Woolf have backed me all the way. I appreciate that. Too many managers don't get a chance these days. They go on a run of poor results and that's it; they get the sack. Gary and John are not like that." he said.

When I asked Ian if he realised he'd reached 10 years in charge at Cray, he told me, "Yeah, I thought it was near. I've been at the Club around 17 or 18 years in total. I wasn't too surprised when Gary told me last week about the presentation . I keep my own records and I thought I was there or thereabouts. Long may it last.

"It might even be a Club record. I don't know for sure," he continued, "but it's also down to the players. Many of them have stayed with me over the years. They're good lads, every one of them. You don't think that you're going to stay in the job for ten years, though.

"I've been through several managers myself as a player. I even took over for a while as player-manager until Fabio's (Rossi) brief spell in charge. When he took over, I could have left, but I didn't. I saw that the future potential of the Club was good and, so far, I've been proved right. We've got great players, a great set-up, great supporters and a great committee."

I asked Ian what his secret was, when sometimes managers don't last ten minutes, let alone ten years.

"Success. If you have success as a manager, you don't expect to be sacked. I've seen players come and go, and some have stayed with me through the years, but it's all down to success. We're at a good level of football. Clubs get their rewards in this league (Ryman Premier). It is a fact that teams can beat each other is this league. You only have to look at the table to see that."

Having been the manager for the past decade, undoubtably Ian has experienced success, but I asked him what stands out the most for him.

"All the promotions are good. Obviously I like winning the cups, but promotion is where it's at. That and retaining the Kent League title back in 2003. That's got to be up there with the best, because if you win the title one year, everyone's gunning for you the next. So, we did well, and got the promotion to the Ryman after it.

"Then, after a couple of seasons consolidating our position when we just missed out on promotion in our first year, we got to where we are now. Winning the play-offs last year after coming so close the previous season is another good highlight."

We finished up our chat by talking about what's to come in the next ten years.

"There's exciting times ahead, what with the new ground. That's something we're all looking forward to. On the pitch, it'll be patience and consolidation . Once we get to the new ground, we'll be able to plan our long-term future. Players always want to come to our Club and that's good."

There will be a presentation made to Ian at 2.30pm by Chairman, Gary Hillman, prior to the start of the home match against Waltham Abbey at Hayes Lane on Saturday 3 October.