Tony Burman rules out permanent return to Darts hot-seat

Former Dartford boss Burman is insisting he won’t stay at the helm beyond his current caretaker stint.
Burman has ruled out returning to the managerial hot-seat he occupied for more than a decade before stepping down in May 2018.
Named as Darts caretaker after last week’s departure of joint bosses Jamie Coyle and Adam Flanagan, he returned to the dugout for the first time for Saturday’s 3-4 defeat at home to Dorking Wanderers.
Burman insists he has no intention of staying in the role any longer than is necessary as the Darts search for a new boss at Princes Park.
“The long-term is not for me,” Burman told Kent Online on Monday. “But we don’t know how long the short-term is going to be. We’re not under pressure time-wise, we want to interview who we think and make sure we get it right.
“I am happy with what I do at the club in the academy during the daytime and that’s my goal now. I’m short-term. What the term of that is I can’t tell you. There’s no rush that we’ve got to do it in two or six weeks.
“What’s most important is that we all agree that the person is the right one for the job. They are given their budget and they work to what they want to do. I am not one who interferes unless someone asks me to do it.”
Dartford sit 20th in National League South, with just seven points and one win in the first 10 games. Only goal difference is keeping them out of the relegation zone and Burman knows it’s a situation that needs to change quickly.
He added: “Obviously we’ve got to get things right and get back to winning games. It’s easy to say you’ve made a mistake but it’s on and off the field. It was a tough job for the guys to take over.
“The league table is not lying. We have to be honest and fair. We’ve lost too many games and conceded too many goals. It just hasn’t been right. It’s something we need to put right quickly.”
Burman will take charge again on Saturday for a trip to fifth-placed Concord as the Darts step up efforts to find a new boss. They are not advertising the post but the board will meet tomorrow (Wednesday) to compile their shortlist before carrying out interviews.
“I’ll be there,” added Burman. “We’ll go through all the applicants, draw up a shortlist and then start interviewing. However long that takes is how long it takes.
“There’s no pressure, I’ll be the manager until we know who it is going to be. It can’t go on and on [so] that person needs to be in place.”
Flanagan and Coyle left the darts by mutual consent within an hour of last Tuesday night’s 3-2 defeat at Tonbridge in National League South. The duo succeeded Burman in May 2018.