The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Holbeach United are looking for their third manager of the season after Gary Frost left the club on Tuesday night.
Frost, who only took the Tigers job on October 14, replaced Phil Barnes in the Carter’s Park hot seat.
He leaves the club in the same position as he found it – bottom of the Uhlsport UCL Premier Division North and was unable to secure a league win during his tenure.
Frost did lead Holbeach to a 5-0 win at Blackstones in the county cup, but that result was scratched off due to his side fielding an ineligible player.
The outgoing boss admitted he was “gutted” to leave, but feels that his departure was best for the club.
Frost said: “I’d just like to thank the club for the opportunity and I hope they turn it around.
“It’s a wonderful club that just needs some freshening up. I hoped to be the one to do it but it hasn’t worked out.
“I’m gutted to leave but it’s best for the club. I wish them all the best.”
Holbeach United released the news Frost had left ‘by mutual consent’ on Twitter at 9pm on Tuesday night.
“The club would like to thank Gary for his time at the club in what is proving to be a very challenging season,” the tweet said.
Just three hours prior to the announcement Frost told The Voice he hoped to get some ‘leaders’ in place before Saturday’s game with fourth-from-bottom Quorn after losing Callum Madigan and Ricki Goodale in the build-up to last weekend’s 6-0 hammering at home to Newark Flowserve.
Frost was particularly scathing of the second half performance against Newark.
“The players have got to have more guts,” he told The Voice hours before his departure. “They’ve got to roll up their sleeves up and also be at it all the time.
“A lot of the players we have are quite young and naive.
“The fourth goal Newark scored was a brilliant strike. We could have closed him down a bit quicker but sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and doff your cap to them.
“What I can’t accept is letting people walking through to score almost unchallenged.
“That’s what happened almost throughout the second half.
“Some of the lads are teenagers and it’s a brilliant opportunity to play for a very good club.
“With some of the older lads though I’m expecting them to step up.
“I could bring Jurgen Klopp in but it wouldn’t make a difference without the players showing more fight.
“We’re always looking for players to improve and we’re particularly looking for leaders.
“Madigan and Goodale are big characters and they brought that but we’ve lost that now.”
The pair signed just two weeks ago after Peteborough Northern Star folded, but they’ve now signed for Blackstones in UCL Division One where their former Peterborough managers Lloyd Burton and Jan Czarnecki have taken over after Holbeach’s ‘win’ there in the cup.
They left on the Thursday just before Holbeach’s 6-0 home loss to Newark Flowserve.
“I’ve called them out for their lack of loyalty and some have responded that they’re being loyal to their old manager,” Frost said. “That’s fair enough but my issue is their previous managers got to the stage they couldn’t raise a side.
“Everyone at Holbeach has done everything they asked us to do for them and they’ve left anyway.
“That’s the fickle side to the local football game, there’s no loyalty.
“They were left without a club so we stepped in to give them an opportunity to play and now they’ve moved on the first time another opportunity comes.”
As The Voice went to press on Wednesday morning Holbeach United chairman Des Ford said it hadn’t been decided who would take charge of the match against Quorn following Frost’s departure.
He said: “We’re in no better position from changing managers than we were before.
“The team’s performances hadn’t improved.
“He wasn’t happy and we weren’t either.
“We were prepared for him to carry on but there’s no point if it’s going to make him unhappy.”
