TOOTH IS BACK AND BITING AT THE BIT

THEY SAY in life to never go back, but for Neil Tooth it was simply a no-brainer.

Tooth earned his place in Royals protocol after leading Sutton Coldfield Town into the Evo-Stik Northern Premier in 2015-16.

Now, just over a year after ending his seven-year stay at Coles Lane, Tooth is enjoying an emotional reunion at his hometown club, tasked with maintaining the club’s proud Step 3 status.

It’s something of a fairytale return for Tooth, who lost his job as manager of Hednesford Town after just seven games in charge at the start of the season before taking over at Evo-Stik South bottom club Romulus.

And it’s come at just the right time too for Sutton Coldfield Town, who completed a miracle escape from relegation under boss Richard Sneekes last season, only to continue their struggle for the first half of this season.

Last Saturday’s 4-3 home defeat by local rivals Rushall Olympic left the club four points adrift at the bottom of the table and spelt the end for Sneekes, the former Ajax, Bolton and West Brom midfielder, plus his assistant Steve Hinks.

Tooth’s work in beginning to turn around the fortunes at Romulus hadn’t gone unnoticed by Royals chairman Nick Thurston and it wasn’t long before the formalities were complete.

“It came as a bit of a surprise to be honest,” Tooth told The NLP. “I was happily plodding along at Romulus, enjoying my time there when the chairman got in touch.

Mission

“They wanted someone who knows the club, knows the players and can hit the ground running. They didn’t want someone that was going to take three or four games to settle in, it could all be over by then, so it was nice they turned to me.

“I loved my time at Romulus. They were the club who gave me my mojo back and we were definitely turning a corner.

“It was a very tough decision but Sutton Coldfield Town is my club. I live in the town, my son goes to school just around the corner from the ground and my Mum still works at the club doing the food. It was a no-brainer, there was no other club I would have left Romulus for.”

Tooth has never been a man to shirk a challenge but is well aware that he’s got his work cut out in leading another survival mission.

Standing directly in his way are Stalybridge Celtic and Halesowen Town – two big clubs with big reputations – and with seven points to make up in the remaining 16 games of the season, it’s no easy task.

“We’re under no illusions how tough it’s doing to be but it’s certainly doable,” Tooth, right, added. “There is a very good squad of players here – probably the best the club have ever had – and there is enough talent to work with.

“If we can put a couple of sevenday approaches in and make the necessary tweaks, then there’s no reason why we can’t start kicking on straight away.”