Hopefully I'll get the opportunity to get back somewhere sooner rather than later, says Tommy Warrilow

TOMMY WARRILOW says he is waiting for his phone to ring to get back into football management.

The 51-year-old, who lives in Cuxton, Kent, has been without a club since leaving Cray Wanderers at the end of the season after pulling off The Great Escape to keep the club in the Ryman League.

The Wands won a club record ten wins on the bounce in their last 10 games to ensure Tony Russell and his number two Ray Powell could drop down a league to come in from Ryman Premier League side VCD Athletic at the same level.

Warrilow and his assistant Alex O’Brien knew they were only a short-term fix and go into the New Year searching for a new challenge.

“It was this time last year exactly when I got the phone call from Cray and went down there and done what we did down there which was pleasing,” said Warrilow.

“When you’ve been out for a little while – I was only out for a couple of months because I was doing a bit of scouting for Ebbsfleet.

“To go into a league we didn’t know and get our head around it and turn it around and do what we did at the end there was pleasing.

“It was nice to keep their Ryman status, which was the main objective.”

Warrilow explained why West Ham United’s newly-formed Academy in Gillingham flopped.

“Unfortunately it was a late shout. I tried to use all my resources to get the advertising going but it was very, very late,” admitted Warrilow.

“It was a late shout to get the kids in to get the numbers up. There’s a lot of Academies around the area.  Unfortunately we never got the numbers to peruse it so it never happened.

“It’s a shame because it was a great opportunity but we didn’t have enough time to get the numbers up.

“It never kicked off. It would’ve been ideal because it would have gone hand in glove to get a manager’s job somewhere but it wasn’t to be.”

When asked what job he is looking for, Warrilow is open to offers.

“Do you know what? I’m open to anything,” he said.

“I’ve said from day one, I’ve never been a football snob. I spoken to four clubs, all different levels, going from Ryman South, North, to the Premier, to Conference, Conference South.

“I’ve been to games at all those levels as well. I speak to everyone because you don’t know what clubs have planned.

“Some teams may have a big plan to progress through the league’s quickly – so you may have to start at the bottom.

“Some teams may want to consolidate and then build from next year.

“I’ve spent the last two months at the end of last season to explain why we didn’t get offered the job at Cray.  There was nothing untoward. We all knew what was going on down there and a lot of people couldn’t get their head around it why we never got offered it!

“There was no ill-feeling but Cray wanted to stay in that league to push on and progress and get their own ground and hopefully move through the leagues.

“If anything like that comes up, I’ll be open to go down talking to them.

“I’ve spoken to four different clubs and for one reason or another it’s just not right for me.

“I’m hoping my phone will ring and something will come up and it will be the right thing.”

Warrilow, who spent seven seasons in charge at Tonbridge Angels, was at Longmead Stadium last weekend with pal Dave Ward to watch the Angels’ 1-1 draw against Ryman Premier League leaders Dulwich Hamlet.

“All you can do is go and watch games,” said Warrilow.

“My phone still rings with manager’s asking for players and players still looking for clubs so you’ve always got your hand in it somewhere along the line.

“I just go and watch games now. I’m not one of those managers that will go to stand behind someone’s dug out if they’re having a bad time.

“I just generally go to watch a good game or if my mates are playing or managing etc.

“This week I might go down and watch VCD play Leatherhead.  I know Keith (McMahon) well and I know the set-up at Leatherhead as well.

“You can’t make a job happen. The one thing is go and watch training sessions down at different clubs and different levels of football.

“What was done in the past is done and I’m a great believer, I’ve got faith in what will be, will be.

“If something that’s right comes up, I’ll be the first to snatch someone’s arm off.

“I’m still in what I call the twilight as a manager.  I’m 51 now, you just have to be patient and hopefully something will come up.

“You’re not going to get a job on your doorstep, that doesn’t happen in football.  I’ve been to a couple of teams that have been quite far away.

“Sometimes when you’ve not had a break since 16 years old and having a little sabbatical doesn’t do you any harm at all. It does give you the time to reflect on it.

“We’ve done a really good job at Cray last year, which didn’t do us any harm at all.

“People thought I was mad to drop down to that level and taking that on and we’ve gone down and shown if you get your head down in any league and get the right players in you can achieve whatever you want.

“Hopefully I’ll get the opportunity to get back somewhere sooner rather than later.

“Some might look to go in and say ‘look this year is dead and buried, we’re looking for next year but what we’re aiming to do is this, this and this’.

“You’ve got to go and listen to anyone. What I don’t want to do is just go somewhere and it’s flat and they’ve got nothing going on behind the scenes.

“The reason’s I’ve not taken the jobs on this year were not football reasons.  When I spoke to a couple of teams at the start of the season the timing wasn’t right with other things that I had going on.

“So if I do it I’m going to make sure I’ve got everything clear and I’ll give it 100% rather I knew I had a few things too sort out – perhaps they came up a little bit too quick.

“It doesn’t do you any harm to come out of football, reflect and look back.

“I’ve been happy with everything I’ve done as a manager so far.  I’ve looked back and achieved what I can at all the club’s I’ve been at.

“I had a great seven years at Tonbridge. We took them from the Ryman Premier bottom club to a Conference South club for three seasons and hopefully they can bounce back into that league and hopefully if they get into it they know what they’re going into it and they’re prepared a little bit more in a financial point of view because the last season when we were in it, it became very competitive to try to get players in.”

Article published 21:45 – Thursday 7 January 2016