DEAN’S STONES ARE ON A ROLL
Boss Brennan has a new lease of life
THIS TIME last year
Dean Brennan was jobless, his phone had stopped ringing and his promising management career had stalled.
An ill-fated spell at Billericay Town had come to a sudden end but things wouldn’t get much better at Kingstonian weeks later, where, after taking charge of just five games, including four defeats, the 39-yearold stepped down after his son was hit by a vehicle and injured.
“Last season was a mess for me; it was an absolute nightmare season,” Brennan admitted to The NLP. “I’d been at a club six and a half years [Hemel Hempstead] and I decided to move on. I walked into a car crash to be totally honest with you. I ended up basically becoming the chairman at one stage [at Billericay]. It was a massive learning curve.
“Then I went to Kingstonian and my boy got run over after a month I was there. This time last year I was out of work, I was sacked, and it just shows you how things can change if you keep working hard and stay focused. This year we’re top of the table and, as we speak, ten points clear. It’s amazing how life gives you these tests. I’ve enjoyed every minute at the club.”
Brennan, appointed as Wealdstone manager in the summer, earned his best result last weekend by thumping closest title rivals Bath City 7-0 to further stretch their lead at the top and edge closer to breaking new ground by reaching the National League.
“It’s very rare something like that happens,” said Brennan, who took Hemel Hempstead to the Southern League title in 2014. “We really got after Bath, they’re a really good technical side and they’re really well-coached by Jerry [Gill]. No doubt he will pick them up and they’ll bounce back. It was a fantastic performance, an amazing victory at this stage of the season.
“What’s important is we need to keep our feet on the ground, there’s a lot of football still to be played. This business can change very quickly. Bath had only conceded 18 goals before we played them then, all of a sudden, they’ve conceded seven in one game. It can happen.”
Brennan may have taken over a side that had lost in last season’s play-off semi-finals under Bobby Wilkinson, but he inherited only five players of that squad, two of which, Jonathan North and James Sheppard, have since moved on.
He has built a free-scoring side at Grosvenor Vale, but strengthened in January with the shrewd additions of forwards Kieron Cadogan and Moses Emmanuel, both of whom have won promotion from the division.
“The players we brought in [last summer], they had really low stock at the time,” explained Brennan.
“They had indifferent seasons, 90 per cent didn’t have strong seasons, there were a lot of question marks over them.
Structure
“They were players I’ve worked with before, or scouted, that could improve. The biggest thing is I knew they were good players. If we could get the right platform, the right structure in place, which to be fair to the board and the chairman Rory Fitzgerald, they’ve created a no excuse environment with the training facilities which the best we’ve had in management.
“We tried to sign Moses on three occasions; resources-wise we couldn’t make that happen. I think Mo has had a season where he just wants to enjoy his football again.
“Before the last two games I think we sonly scored 14 goals in ten games and before that we had been really free-scoring. He’s made a major difference.”
Brennan expects nearest rivals Slough, Weymouth, Havant and Bath to push them right to the end.
“It’s definitely the strongest it’s been in my seven years managing in it,” he added. “Full-time teams in Dulwich, Maidstone and Havant, a lot of good clubs and managers, who have been there and done it.
“If you look at the managers who have had success in previous years they’re all there – Steve King is back in, Brad Quinton, Paul Doswell, managers that have been promoted from this level. It’s a really difficult division.
“We’re enjoying the position we’re in and striving under the pressure. We know it’ll go down to the last couple weeks.”