There's a big job to be done at Cray, admits new boss Keith Bird

CRAY WANDERERS’ manager Keith Bird says he will be looking to claim his first three points in charge of the club tomorrow.



The Wands welcome Metropolitan Police to Hayes Lane sitting at the foot of the Ryman Premier League table with four points from eleven games and have leaked 42 league goals during that time.

Surrey-based outfit Metropolitan Police arrive at Hayes Lane sitting in the bottom five, having collected 9 points from their 10 games.

The Wands were knocked out of the Kent Senior Cup Sponsored by Portablefloodlights.com on Tuesday night, when landlords Bromley won the Second Round tie 3-2.

Tommy Whitnell scored two goals in Bird’s first game in charge of the club, but Bromley progressed through to the quarter-finals.

Bird and his assistant manager Michael Paye quit Bromley at the weekend after guiding their reserve side to second-place in the Suburban League Premier with four wins from six games.

The pair have taken over the club following the departure of legendary boss Ian Jenkins, who was with the club for 24 years, fourteen of them as manager of the club.

Bird knows his side must claim all three points against Metropolitan Police to get their season back on track.

“It’s one of those three pointers and we’ll be looking to get three points and start the reverse,” said Bird.

“Clearly there’s a big job to be done at Cray. We’ve inherited an not ideal situation and so the only thing is we have to be realistic where we are.

“The reality is it’s a big job to be done at Cray.

“We have to be realistic where we are and the budget we have available and the players we currently have available.”

When a new manager comes into a club the team tend to pull their socks up and Bird asks for time to turn things around.

“It’s not really about the next two or three weeks. Clearly the next two or three weeks we want to get off to a good start, but it’s going to take two or three weeks to put in place the personal we want to bring in,” explained Bird.

“The next two or three weeks is to do the best we can with what we’ve got and start to move on from there really.”

Bird wants to the club’s small fan-base to remain patient and keep supporting their new-look team.

He said: “I think at Cray we’ve got a tremendous support system there. They’re not the biggest gates in the league but the fans that we’ve got there have been tremendous for the club.

“Clearly they’ve been through the good times with the club and the bad times with the club and now we’re looking over a period of time not necessarily straight away but we’re looking to bring a bit more enjoyment to the results and the position in the league.

“It’s not really about the next two or three weeks. It’s what we can do between now and the end of the season.

“I think the message to the fans’ is thank you for the support you’ve given and for the support you’ve given through the good times and the bad times and let’s stick together now through until the end of the season and we can focus more on being more competitive next season.”

Visit Cray Wanderers website: www.pitchero.com/clubs/craywands

Cray Wanderers  v  Metropolitan Police
Ryman Premier League
Saturday 5^th October 2013
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Hayes Lane, Bromley, Kent BR2 9EF