I don't want the club to stand still, says Tonbridge Angels boss Tommy Warrilow

TONBRIDGE ANGELS boss Tommy Warrilow says sponsors are needed to assist the club to establish themselves in Conference South.
The Angels collected two draws against their Kent rivals Bromley over the festive period and sit in a respectable 12^th place in the Blue Square Bet South table with 30 points from 24 games.

They are nine points adrift of the play-off zone – or ten points clear of the relegation zone - and Warrilow wants to put to bed the frustrating times of their inaugural campaign at this level.

Warrilow said: “We’re playing at the highest level that we have in our history and that’s what people have to remember.  We can’t go out and financially compete with all these boys.

“Bromley are an established Conference South club and Bromley have always been a big club. 

“We’ve worked our way up into (this level).  Hopefully in years’ to come we’ll be like Bromley, established in this league and looking to push on.

“We’re trying to sort ourselves off the pitch financially with sponsorships etc as well as on it and they’ve got to go hand in glove and at the moment I’m not going to sit there and start moaning.   I’m happy with the club.  I love it here.  I’m happy with what we’ve got here at the moment because I don’t want and we don’t want to, as a club, to stand still.

“We’ve worked hard enough to get here.  We just want to push on but that’s not going to be done in half a season. That’s what people have got to remember.”

Tonbridge Angels can help their Kent rivals from Hayes Lane with victory over third-from-bottom side Hampton & Richmond Borough on Saturday as the Beavers are now only one point adrift of a Bromley side that are one place above them and without a win in thirteen games.

Warrilow said: “I just hope we enjoy this year.  We’re all frustrated.  We’re sitting in 12^th still.  We just have to get some wins together.  We’ve drawn quite a few games but we’ve lost four in 12 now.  We’ve not one in eight but we’ve been drawing a lot.”

When asked what he is expecting against Hampton & Richmond Borough, the Angels boss replied, “Again, the same like I expected with Bromley.  It will be a difficult game.  There are no easy games.  We just have to get ourselves right.

“They’re a good side with good players.  Staines have got some good players.  Thurrock have got some good players and they are all down the bottom so it shows you we’ve done well. 

Warrilow, who released midfielder Anthony Storey earlier in the week through work and family commitments, is a manager who pushes his team on to greater things.

Reflecting on the season so far, he said: “It’s flown by.  I just use the word all the time – it’s been frustrating.  We just have to turn the frustration into some good times because a win does make all the difference.

“It’s a jump up (from the Ryman Premier League). I have to keep reminding myself.  I can’t be too hard on everyone. I expect these lads to be up there.  I’m disappointed a little but that we’re not up and around the play-off area.  If we can string some results together in those 18 games, who knows what will happen?”

The biggest frustration must be striker Jon Main, 30, sitting on the sidelines through injury.

Warrilow revealed the latest on the former AFC Wimbledon striker, who left Longmead Stadium for a record transfer fee in November 2007 after scoring 52 goals in 57 appearances for the Kent club.

“Mainy’s got to have a bit of fluid drained from his knee.  We’re just waiting for the dates for the operation, the cost of the operation and we’ll get it done as soon as possible.”

Warrilow has tonight unveiled the return of midfielder Chris Piper and much-travelled winger Joe Benjamin following their release from Sutton United and Chelmsford City respectively.

But the manager released midfield warrior and fans' favourite Scott Kinch tonight.

Meanwhile, former Ramsgate and Tonbridge Angels midfielder, Lee Minshull, 27, has today been made available for transfer or loan from League Two side AFC Wimbledon.

The powerful, tough-tackling midfielder left Longmead Stadium and signed for AFC Wimbledon in May 2010 as the offer of full-time Conference Premier football was too good to turn down.

He got his career going as a centre-back at Ramsgate but Warrilow brought him to Longmead Stadium in 2007 and he turned him into an attacking midfielder and the move paid off as he scored 17 goals in 40 appearances, finishing the season as second top scorer and being voted player-of-the-year in 2009-2010.

Minshull put his career as a quantity surveyor on hold to join AFC Wimbledon, where he made 24 appearances (19 more as sub) and scored three goals.

Visit Tonbridge Angels’ website: www.tonbridgeangels.co.uk  

Hampton & Richmond Borough  v  Tonbridge Angels
Blue Square Bet South
Saturday 7^th January 2012
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Beveree Stadium, Beaver Close, off Station Road, Hampton, Middlesex TW12 2BX