IT’S fair to say legendary Luther Blissett’s return to management after a decade away could have gone better – but Burnham‘s club record 11-0 hammering at the hands of Thatcham was described as “fluky”.
The Watford icon and former England international agreed to hold the fort after the Hellenic League club parted company with manager Dave Tuttle – the former Tottenham and Crystal Palace defender – last Monday.
Blissett is well involved at Burnham, heading up the club’s academy and he didn’t shy away from the challenge when he offered to take the team until a replacement could be found.
Chairman Gary Reeves says the club has been through the ringer in the past few years and the worst defeat in their history had reasons behind it.
He said: “The result was a bit fluky in a lot of ways. It was not reflective of us as a club. We had to put an untested 18-year-old in goal early on when our goalkeeper got injured.
Relegated
“Our manager left the day before and four players couldn’t play and some players’ heads just weren’t in the right place.
“The club is going through a rough period and we have had a massive fall from grace. Under two years ago we were eighth in the Southern Premier and looking at the Conference South. Since then, we’ve been relegated twice and we have started life in Step 5 poorly.
Fed up
“We’ve just had the worst defeat in our history but we truly believe we’re still a good club. Now we want a manager who can operate within our framework and bring in some better players to help us club the ladder again.”
That manager won’t be Blissett, 58, last in charge at Chesham United in 2006. Not because of a rotten return to the dug-out, but because he has no desire to manage.
“Luther has been fantastic,” Reeves said. “But this was never going to be for him. He has so much going on within football – he works a lot at Watford, with the FA, running the academy and also with his work at Prostate Cancer UK.
“We’re privileged to have a guy like that involved. He loves taking training but the management side is not for him.
“We accept that, but what a fantastic thing it is for our new manager to have someone like that supporting him.”
The team’s form is terrible – they lost each of their first seven games and let in an astonishing 37 goals. Reeves said the side can still turn it around and grab promotion.
He added:“There is still so much time – yes it has been a terrible start, we are all a bit fed up, but if we get the right manager in with a good contacts book then I’m confident we can repair the damage.”
