The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Lewis Thorogood is hoping that he’ll leave Spalding United with no choice but to hand him the job on a full-time basis after being named interim manager until the end of the season.
The former assistant manager, who stepped up to caretaker after Matt Easton’s resignation in December, saw his stint as the Tulips’ boss extended until at least April after a board meeting on Monday night.
Thorogood has enjoyed a strong start to life in the Spalding hot-seat despite two defeats against Wisbech Town and Lincoln United over the festive period and is hoping to build on Saturday’s fine win at Loughborough Dynamo.
He’s keen to land the job full-time and is eyeing a top ten finish – which would be a marked improvement on the past few seasons.
“I’m really happy to be given the role until the end of the season,” said Thorogood. “It’s now up to me to give the club no choice but to give me the job full-time.
“We’ve got a good group of players here and it’s important that we’ve kept that continuity.
“The first objective is to keep the club in this division, but we’re now in the top ten and have a chance to maybe finish in the top eight or ten this season. Given where the club has been in the past few seasons, that would be a real achievement.
“We’re not a million miles away from safety and we’re certainly all up for the battle ahead. We’ll take things one game at a time”
Tulips chairman Andy Gay echoed Thorogood’s comments after his appointment, while also confirming that the interim boss is also playing a vital role off the field as they bid to make the club sustainable.
Gay said: “After a board meeting on Monday, we decided to give Lewis the job until the end of the season.
“We obviously saw a disappointing performance and result against Wisbech over Christmas, but we were unlucky to lose against Lincoln and then put in an excellent performance to beat Loughborough on Saturday.
“We’re now on 28 points and in the top half. Last year, 30 points was enough to keep us up – so we’re probably only one or two results away from being safe this season.
“There’s a lot going on that people won’t be aware of behind the scenes and Lewis is a part of that, so it only seemed fair to let him carry on doing the job.
“Continuity is key for us, given what we have gone through this season. People won’t be aware of the problems we’ve been dealing with and the financial crisis we’ve endured, but we’re all working towards making the club sustainable.
“But it’s great that we have Lewis in place and that improvements are being made.”
Spalding are back in BetVictor NPL South East Division action on Saturday, with Ilkeston Town the visitors to the Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field (3pm).
