WEEK IN WORDS

We take a look at the stories from around the Non-League scene this week that caught the eye

WHILE a certain National League South club have been grabbing the headlines for their managerial activity, Hereford pushed the panic button this week too.

After three defeats in four, which left them three points adrift of the play-offs before yesterday’s games, Peter Beadle was sacked with assistant manager Steve Jenkins following him out the door.

Just nine games in to their National North campaign, Beadle, Hereford’s only manager since their reformation in 2014, was given the boot having guided the club to three successive league titles and the 2016 FA Vase final.

Hereford chairman Ken Kinnersley explained the decision on the club’s website: “This is not a decision the Board has taken lightly and it is one made with a heavy heart. However, the Directors are in unanimous agreement that now is the right time to make a change.

“While recent results have been disappointing, this is a decision taken more with the long-term goal of progressing to the Football League in mind and we feel it will give the club the best possible chance of continuing the positive progress it has made so far.”

Restless

There is little loyalty in football but Beadle surely had enough credit in the bank to try and steer Hereford to another promotion and closer to the Football League. His record at Hereford during his four years at the club reads, Played: 138, Won: 107, Drawn: 18, Lost: 13, Goals for: 365, Goals against: 105.

Unsurprisingly the decision came as a surprise to players and fans alike.

“It was a shock, nobody was expecting the sacking to happen,” caretaker player-manager Ryan Green told The NLP. “That’s football, these things happen, it’s a crazy game.

“The board rang me up and have asked me to do a job for a couple of games so I’ve accepted.

“I’m still playing, Gareth Davies is an A-License coach and has become head of football, and he took training on Thursday.

“We’re mid-table with a game in hand. The board want to go in a different direction and you have to respect that decision and they’re still expecting to get into the play-offs. We should be up there with the team we’ve got.”

Meanwhile, Torquay United have named Gary Johnson as their new manager after parting ways with Gary Owers on Wednesday.

Johnson has won Conference titles with Yeovil Town and Cheltenham Town but he is going into a tough job.

Like Hereford, Torquay were three points off the play-offs before yesterday although for a club of their stature and having just been relegated from the National League, their fans are restless.

If Torquay were going to make a change in management, it would have made more sense clearing the decks in the summer after Owers was unable to keep them in the division.

Now Johnson is left to pick up the pieces and it doesn’t look like a quick fix.