Former Birmingham City, Portsmouth, Derby County and Bristol City midfielder Martin Kuhl is back in the game as the new manager of Staines Town.
Kuhl, who left Basingstoke Town in September after nine months at the helm, was unveiled by the BertVictor Isthmian League‘s Swans on Monday as the successor to Anthony Gale.
Interim manager Mahrez Bettache, who’s been in charge since the departure of Gale from Wheatsheaf Park in October, has been offered the opportunity to stay on as a player and member of Kuhl’s touchline team.
After winning only one of their first six outings in the Isthmian League’s South Central Division under Gale, Bettache stopped the rot, guiding the Swans to five wins and three draws in 13 outings.
CLUB STATEMENT | Martin Kuhl appointed permanent STFC Head Coach.
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— Staines Town FC (@StainesTownFC) December 9, 2019
A Swans statement read: “Staines Town Football Club are delighted to announce that Martin Kuhl has been appointed as permanent first team head coach.
“Mahrez Bettache has stepped down as interim manager and has been offered the opportunity to remain at the football club as part of both the playing squad and backroom team following his good work in recent weeks.
“Martin joins the club and brings with him a wealth of experience which has seen him play over 350 games as a professional for Birmingham City, Portsmouth, Derby County and Bristol City to name a few.
“Since retiring Martin has obtained his UEFA Pro Licence alongside Thierry Henry and has had spells at Reading FC fulfilling the role of U21 manager in which he won promotion to the U21 Premier League, as well as assistant manager roles at Aldershot Town and Wycombe Wanderers, where he won promotions, and Torquay United.
“He was most recently manager at Basingstoke Town.
“We would like to place on record our thanks to Mahrez for stepping into the interim manager role and overseeing the recent set of fixtures.”
Kuhl, 54, kicked off his managerial career as number two to Gary Waddock at Aldershot Town before the pair left in 2009 to join Wycombe Wanderers.
He went on to coach at youth level at Reading and in 2016 took over as caretaker manager following the sacking of Steve Clarke.
Kuhl joined Torquay United as assistant to new head coach Gary Owers in September 2017 before taking charge of Basingstoke Town in December 2018 and leaving by mutual consent three months ago.
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