CURETON’S ON THE UP AND UP
Goal-den boy now shining on and off the pitch
IF BEING a prolific striker for well over two decades wasn’t enough, Jamie Cureton has now shown that he is a rather dab hand in the dugout as well!
At the ripe age of 43, the former Reading and Norwich City frontman has proved he’s still got an eye for goal, topping the Bostik Premier’s goalscoring charts with eight goals so far, while helping his highflying Bishop’s Stortford side to five wins in six games.
But Cureton has also been cutting his cloth in the managerial ranks too, taking over caretaker duties alongside owner Steve Smith and academy coach Jim Duggan following the departure of former boss Adam Flint last month.
And the new managerial team have stumbled across a winning formula as the seventh-placed Blues eye a promotion push.
“It has been a bit of a crazy season for me so far!” Cureton told The NLP. “It was something that I never expected to happen because when I resigned over the summer I was just happy to have another year of playing football.
“But when I was asked to combine my playing duties with coaching the team, I jumped at it because it felt like an exciting step to take.
“Things have been going really well so far and I am enjoying the experience and the boys seem to be buying into what we are doing.”
Momentum
Moving into a player-boss role is often a difficult transition, but Cureton believes that a number of factors have helped make the shift a seamless process.
“I think it has been relatively easy for me because I was already a bit of a senior figure in the dressing room because of my age,” said the Bristolborn striker. “I have also done some coaching work with the Arsenal academy so that has given me a good grounding.
“I try to speak to the lads as if I am still just a player and I have tried to be as open and honest with them as possible.
“I left myself out of the team for the first three games, which think earned their respect a bit.”
Cureton showed that age is no barrier, bagging himself a brace in last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Burgess Hill – and he remains keen to continue playing for as long as possible. “When I took on the managerial duties I wanted to make sure that it didn’t spell the end of my playing career,” said the forward, who has turned out in Non-League for Farnborough, Eastleigh and St Albans City. “People keep asking me what the secret to being able to play for so long is but I don’t really have an answer. “I try to keep myself as fit as I can and eat the right things but I think what really drives me to carry on playing is simply my love of the game and the buzz that you get from being out on the pitch. “I dropped down into NonLeague a few years ago and I have had such a brilliant time.
“I suppose I may have been a little naive in underestimating just how high the quality is in Non-League because every match is a real battle.”
With the wind in their sails, the Blues are unlikely to force any unnecessary change at the top and Cureton is more than happy to continue in his current role.
“I don’t see any reason why the board would want to change things at the moment because things are going really well,” he added.
“With the results that we have picked up over the past few weeks I feel as though we are building a real sense of momentum and despite things appearing rather chaotic from the outside, I actually think that we are shaping up for a really exciting season.
“This club definitely has the facilities and the support base to be a Step 2 side, so hopefully we can help them reach their potential.”