BOSS HAKAN MAKING HAY IN A BID TO GET BACK IN

HAKAN HAYRETTIN is ready to scratch the management itch again.

The 48-year-old former Waltham Forest, Thurrock and Grays Athletic boss wants to get back in the dug-out after a season away.

Hayrettin’s last job was at Braintree Town, who he took over in September 2016 with the Iron in a relegation fight having won just twice in their opening 12 National League games.

Success came in the FA Cup as they reached the second round and an away date with Millwall, but they couldn’t quite survive in the league, slipping into the National League South on the final day of the season.

Hayrettin left soon after but he says it’s an experience he believes has made him stronger.

“It was difficult,” Hayrettin said. “I’ve never known anything like it with injuries. We had injuries to keepers, left-backs, centre backs, midfield – it was ridiculous.

“But we made some exceptional signings in the loan market and went on a long unbeaten run. We nearly got out, we got to the last day of the season and we just couldn’t quite get over the line.

“Really that halted me for a while because I know with the opportunity again, with my contacts and knowledge, I can put that to bed.

“If you don’t experience the lows, you don’t appreciate the highs. It’s a bitter pill to swallow but you’ve got to bounce back.

“You never get too high with success or too low with failure – you’ve got to be even. But I think the time is right now where I’m looking for the right job.

“I have that desire and the determination to come back now and do the right thing.”

Before arriving at Braintree, Hayrettin had been enjoying plenty of highs having led Grays Athletic into the Ryman Premier by winning the Division One North title while losing just four games all season and racking up a club-record 102 points.

He left Grays to become first team coach at John Still’s Luton Town as they won the Conference title to return to the Football League, where they finished eighth in their first season back.

Last season, he worked with Still again at Dagenham & Redbridge on the recruitment side but now is keen to be hands on with the bug always there.

It’s a job he knows well having moved onto the management team as a player at Harrow Borough in 2000 after his professional playing career was cut short through injury.

“Even before that I was given my first chance at Watford under Graham Taylor and Gary Johnson, who was my manager at Cambridge, to run the youth team in my twenties,” Hayrettin added.

“I later joined my old team-mate Edwin Stein at Harrow Borough as player-coach – I didn’t play that much because my knees were shot to pieces – and I knew I had that burning desire to do it myself. I never looked back.

“I’ve been offered a job abroad in Cyprus but I decided not to go because of my kids. It’s been good watching, seeing what other teams do but you know when it’s right to plug yourself back in.

“I feel I’ve got so much to offer, in terms of contacts, and hopefully I can get that next chance

soon.”