Miles searches for lower league talent as he targets consolidation - EXCLUSIVE

Chatham Town boss Phil Miles will have a beer waiting behind the bar at Maidstone Road tomorrow for Horsham YMCA coach Tommy Sampson after their Ryman League Division One South clash, writes Stephen McCartney.

Miles decided to leave Deal Town for his present club in 2000 in a search for more first team football but missed out on a once in the lifetime appearance at Wembley Stadium at the end of that season.

Sampson led Deal to FA Vase glory, defeating Chippenham Town courtesy of a dramatic late strike from Roly Graham.

But the pair hold no grudges towards each other and will share some memories with each other after the final whistle.

Reflecting on his split from Sampson six years ago, Miles said EXCLUSIVELY to www.kentishfootball.co.uk tonight:

“As a manager I know you have to make decisions. Tommy made a decision at the time that he favoured a player over me.

“Basically I was at the stage of my career, I was 29-30 and wanted to play regular first team football and I was travelling from Gravesend to Deal and sitting on the bench.

“We played at Cray and I was captain and scored and the following week for the FA Vase game Terry Martin came back.

“He was a fantastic player but it looked like I wasn’t part of the first team any more. I felt I had to play regular football.”

But Steve Hearn, the Chats manager at the time, signed Miles and just over a year on were celebrating promotion into the Southern League.

“I wanted to play football and I moved to get regular football with Chatham in the Kent League,” recalled Miles.

“To be fair, I went to Chatham, won the Kent League and went into the Southern League. So on a footballing basis, I made the right decision.”

But past experiences has put Miles in good stead at managerial level especially when dealing with want-away players.

He added: “I’ve spoken to Tommy two or three times and met him two or three times - we have no grudges at all.”

But a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then, and Sampson brings his YMCA side to Kent tomorrow and Miles is expecting another tough game.

The west Sussex side are currently in tenth place in the table with 25 points from 19 games and have collected three wins and a draw from their last four outings.

Chatham, meanwhile, are in the bottom six, having collected seven points from the same period.

“It will be a tough one,” warned Miles. “They’ve had a couple of good results lately. If Tommy Sampson is anything to do with them they will be hardworking and honest.

“It’s going to be a tough game so we have to be at the races and keep this nice little run going.”

Chatham’s tight finances, however, will be boosted with the visit of local rivals Dartford on Boxing Day (3pm).

“Hopefully the pitch will be ok after Saturday’s game and we get a few people there,” said Miles.

“We should have a nice little gate, which will help the bank balance.

“It will be a tough game. They’ve got some good players and when you look at their team-sheet you know you are going to be in for a hard fought game.”

“There are two or three players we have to keep an eye on and (former Chatham Town striker) Brendon Cass is one of them.

“Like I say to the players and the press every week, on our day we can compete and nick points off the top sides.

“To be fair, the league is so tight and for Walton Casuals to go down to Dover and beat Dover (2-0 on Tuesday night), no matter who you are, you can get beat by anyone.

“We definitely have to be on guard against Dartford. They are in the top three and that’s followed by another tough game against Maidstone (at Bourne Park on 30^th December).

“We have to see over the next three games, they are going to be tough for us but in this league that’s what you are looking for but we have no fear.”

Miles will keep his eyes peeled on potential talent coming through from lower league football as he targets consolidation for the new year.

“We’ll look to improve by bringing more players in,” he said. “’I’m hoping to get people on board before the end of the season and if we can we will do but I won’t panic.

“I’ll keep an eye on the Kent League because of the situation I’m in. I can’t go to Sittingbourne and go to their players because you get into bidding wars so I tend to look in the Kent League and Kent County League and there’s players out there.

“When you speak to people they ask for silly money and think as we’re in the Ryman League we have money to throw away.

“We will go with what we’ve got and hopefully in the summer we will improve but (we are looking for) consolidation in this league.”

Visit Chatham Town's website:  www.chathamtownfc.net

Chatham Town v Horsham YMCA
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 23^rd December 2006
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Maidstone Road, Chatham.