Hendon was the wrong man in the first place, says Hayes

MARTIN HAYES says Dover Athletic have finally got the right man for the job after he agreed to take the reigns at Crabble, writes Justin Allen.


The former Arsenal, Celtic, Peterborough and Swansea star was “pleasantly surprised” when chairman Jim Parmenter asked him if he was still interested in becoming manager – following Ian Hendon’s bombshell resignation after 18 DAYS in charge.

Hayes, who spent about three months at Crabble as a player under Peter Taylor in 2005-06, was on the club’s final shortlist of two along with Hendon – and jumped at the chance, calling it his ideal job.

He told www.doverathletic.com: “I thought they appointed the wrong man but now Dover have the right manager.

“It all came out of the blue. Obviously, Ian got the job, but there were no hard feelings as the chairman had to do what he thought was right for Dover Athletic.

“So I was pleasantly surprised when Jim Parmenter rang me again to ask if I wanted the job as he had been let down.

“I’m not a No2 choice manager … I should’ve got the job in the first place and now I can’t wait to get started.

“Managing Dover Athletic is my ideal job – it’s what I wanted, an ambitious club I can take into the Conference and compete.”

Hayes had a highly-successful playing career in the top-flight with Arsenal, where he won the League Cup in 1987 – a season which saw him end top scorer with 24 goals – and then the league title in 1989.

The attacking winger was on the pitch at Anfield when Michael Thomas scored the stunning last-minute goal that piped Liverpool to the title.

But since a less successful spell at Celtic, who paid £650,000 for his services in 1990, Hayes went on to have a decent time with Swansea and Peterborough.

In non-league, he has played for Dover, Crawley, Collier Row & Romford, Purfleet, Romford and Bishop’s Stortford.

He spent an incredible 10 YEARS at Bishop’s Stortford, eight-and-a-half as manager – taking the club from Ryman One all the way up to Blue Square South, where they reached the 2007 play-offs. He also guided the club to the 2005 FA Trophy semi-final and reached two FA Cup first rounds.

And now he wants to use all his managerial experience and contacts to help take Dover back into the Blue Square Premier.

Hayes, 44, said: “I had a great time with Bishop’s Stortford. We took a small club into Conference South and kept them there, and so nearly got them into the Conference National.

“I know expectations at Dover are going to be far higher because the fans have probably been spoilt with three very successful seasons with Andy Hessenthaler, who did a superb job.

“But the expectations at Dover are no higher than those I put on myself. When I was at Bishop’s Stortford, I always wanted to be finishing in the top five, even though our playing budget was in the bottom six.

“The expectations are not just on me but the players too. Quite often a newly-promoted team can take the others by surprise and have momentum behind them.

“Now the challenge for the players is to prove they are not one-season wonders – that they can come back for next season and challenge at the top of the table again.

“Dover are a far bigger club than Bishop’s Stortford. When I went there, we had no ground and barely any fans. We moved into a modest stadium and progressed as a club but not on the same scale as Dover Athletic.

“Bishop’s Stortford are a club punching above their weight, whereas Dover are a bigger fish in a small pond and should be in the Blue Square Premier. Everything is set up for that – and the fans back them locally, which is very impressive.”

Hayes has promised the current playing squad that everyone starts with a fresh slate and there will be no manager’s favourites from previous regimes.

He said: “It’s a clean page for everyone. I will give everyone a fair chance to prove they should be in my starting XI.

“I want my teams to play football, pass the ball, win back the ball from the opposition, play with quick wingers which work – and I know it works, as in a previous life, I was a quick winger!

“It’s a nice big pitch at Crabble so is ideal for good football.

“But of course teams stop you playing football and there has to be other ways to win football matches as well – so we’ll be looking to get results but try to do it the right way.”

His immediate priority is to talk to the players, arrange a team meeting, assess the squad and re-sign players that have been offered new deals and chase potential targets.

He said: “Some players are still waiting for Real Madrid to call so we must see how that pans out.

“We are five weeks behind in chasing targets, which is a slight handicap, but we’ll muddle through and get the players fit and raring to go for the new season.”

Article courtesy of www.doverathletic.com