I've learnt a lot from Lovell and I thank him, says departing Langton

Sunday 02nd May 2010

ASSISTANT manager Hugo Langton has tonight become a victim of Ashford Town’s restructuring programme, writes Stephen McCartney.

Langton, 35, who lives in Forest Hill, joined the club in October 2008, having previously coached Gillingham’s ladies side, Rusthall in the Kent County League, and guided Holmesdale to the top of the Kent League before joining Steve Lovell at Homelands Stadium.

Langton told www.kentishfootball.co.uk tonight that he has become surplice to requirements at the Kent club.

“Steve Lovell is still the manager there,” confirmed Langton.

“The long and short of it is that there is a little bit of a restructure within the club and they feel at this stage they don’t need an assistant manager, so Steve will be running the team very much on his own and with Mark Patterson down there now running the academy I think the chairman feels he’s got all the basics covered between the two of them.

“I spoke to Steve and he’s a pretty gutted about it. I’m a little bit surprised but that’s life, that’s football and we move on.

“I’ve had a great time at Ashford. It’s been a long season obviously but the way I look at it is I can go on all the coaching courses and badges in the world - I’ve got my UEFA A licence - but it’s been a long season but I personally enjoyed it and working with Steve and watching him deal with everything over the season.

“ I’ve learnt from him. He’s been incredible and I thank him for it. He’s a top bloke and a top manager and I hope him and Ashford Town go on to greater success in years to come.”

Ashford Town maintained their Ryman League status on the final day of the season with a 2-1 home win over Kent rivals Chatham Town eight days ago.

Langton now looks towards the future and getting straight back into coaching.

“I’ll see what happens,” added Langton. “Maybe the phone will ring, maybe it won’t, we have to wait and see.

“I’m confident in my own ability as a coach and whatever role people might have in mind for me, I’m happy to talk to anyone and everyone to see what happens.

“I’ve got a lot going on at the moment. I work for Charlton and I’m also launching my own little academy in a week or so to work with some decent kids which will keep me busy.

“But when it comes to Saturday’s I want to be busy, but yesterday was horrible! I didn’t know what to do with myself! I sat in front of the television watching Sky Sports News all afternoon. That’s now the way forward for me!

“I love coaching and I consider to be good at it. I’ve done my coaching badges so who knows what the future holds? Football is a funny game. You never know what’s around the corner.

“The main thing is that it’s been sorted out - Ashford have got to move on now and I’ve got to move on.

“I can’t express enough how much I’ve enjoyed my time at Ashford, especially working with Steve and I wish him luck in the future - it’s a great club.

Ashford only had four players at their first pre-season training session last July due to the club’s off-the-field problems and Lovell and Langton had to build a team from scratch.

“We’ve had a tough season and we had a lot to deal with,” said Langton.

“We had a very young team and to be fair they were a credit, not just to themselves and the club. They’re very experienced and sometimes it was hard for them playing against more physical and experienced sides.

“These players now will hopefully be better players for it and know what it takes to compete in the Ryman League.

“The club has got some great, great young players in particular Laurence Harvey, Ronnie Dolan and Carl Harrold and they’re three exceptional young players and I’d like nothing more than to see all three of them have great careers, the higher the level, the better.”

Visit Ashford Town’s website: www.ashfordtownfc.co.uk