By Jon Couch
Amidst the dawn of a new era at Eastleigh this week, Richard Hill – reputed for his no-nonsense and somewhat abrupt outlook on the beautiful game – was in a relaxed, but reflective, mood.
“Any other chairman would have relieved me of my duties a month ago at least,” the Spitfires supremo accepts with the National League‘s pre-season promotion candidates languishing just five points off a relegation place.
It was a fair and honest assessment from stalwart Hill who this week moved back upstairs to his old Director of Football role at the Silverlake Stadium, while assistant Andy Hessenthaler took over first-team affairs.
Christmas, it appears, is a time for rumination down at Ten Acres – and ambitious chairman Stewart Donald has had plenty of time to assess his options.
Initially returning to the club to take a role upstairs following the sacking of Martin Allen back in February, Hill soon found himself back occupying the manager’s dugout and steered the club to top-flight safety after a season to forget on the south coast.
Poisoned chalice
Ronnie Moore, Martin Allen, Chris Todd and rookie caretaker chief Ben Strevens were all tried and tested since Hill’s exit in September 2015, meaning stability was now the key for Donald and the Hampshire club who, while developing the Silverlake into a plush Football League venue, were also earning a reputation as a poisoned chalice for top bosses.
Hill went to work this summer co-ordinating a mass re-structure at the club to better utilise one of the league’s top playing budgets, bringing in former Gillingham, Dover and Leyton Orient boss Hessenthaler as support.
A solid start raised early eyebrows but failure to turn draws into wins cost them dear and the Spitfires entered the Christmas break with their season barely able to get off the ground.
Perhaps earlier than anticipated, it was time for Plan B to be put into action – not though, as Hill insists, as a desperate measure.
“It was something that was always going to happen,” said the 54-year-old, who returned to the Hampshire club after a two-year absence and a brief spell in charge at Whitehawk.
“It wasn’t just a compassionate thing from the chairman, it was something we always had planned.
Prudent
“Yes, we had expected it to go better on the field than it has, but that had no bearing really on this decision being made. We felt that after Toddy [Chris Todd], Ronnie Moore, Martin Allen and myself, we didn’t need a fifth manager to come in so we decided to bring someone in to assist initially while getting to know the club, its infrastructure and its identity.
“I’ve known Andy a long time and worked with him at Gillingham in the Championship. I’ve got the utmost respect for him, in football and as a man, and that respect is two-way.
“We felt the time was right to make the change and get him into managing the players. Obviously I would have liked it to happen with the club in better shape on the field, but I know the club is in good hands with Andy in charge.”
With the burden of team affairs off his shoulders, Hill now has even bigger fish to fry – the job of stabilising the financial reputation of a club renowned for paying over the odds and achieving sustainable success from the boardroom down.
“Now’s the time for the club to be more prudent in our work than we have been in the past,” he added. “There is plenty of work to do on the pitch with results and off it on the financial side. We are not in the position to throw money around like we have done previously.
Sticky plaster
“In terms of results, this season hasn’t been a great success, but when it comes to stopping the revolving door, it’s been massively successful! Just last week we turned down offers for two players because their salary demands were too high. We won’t do it anymore.
“Eastleigh has always been a club to commit to 18-month contracts on players with big salaries. We might get six months out of them, but then not contribute in the second season.
“It’s my job now to make sure that we don’t just put a sticky plaster over it – we have to look after our money.”
Seven games without a win before yesterday’s trip to Dagenham & Redbridge has hardly helped the club in its ambitions to look up not down at Non-League‘s top table, but with half a season and a January transfer window to make up 12 points for a top-seven play-off place, Hill believes the campaign is still very much alive.
“You’ve always got to plan ahead and you can do that with a Director in Football in place,” he explained. “As a manager, how long are you planning for? I can look ahead and plan ahead more than I could as a manager. We have the best chairman in football. Any other chairman would have relieved me of my duties a month ago.
“Results have not been good. We’ve had too many draws and too many defeats, but with the make-up of this league there is still a lot of play for.
“If we, or any club in our position for that matter, can string together four or five wins then it can change everything and you don’t know where you could end up.
“The National League has always been one where everyone is capable of beating anyone on their day and they certainly are this season. It’s so tight, from top to bottom.”
*This article originally featured in The @NonLeaguePaper, which is available every Sunday.
