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Lordswood’s chairman took over as caretaker manager last Saturday and won 4-0 - but insists he’s not interested in taking on the role permanently.
Ray Broad took charge of the team for their Southern Counties East Division 1 game at Sheppey Sports, following the resignation of manager Scott Porter, with coach Michael Dodsworth assisting.
Porter quit after a trio of defeats, which included a 9-0 derby thrashing by Rochester United.
Broad is starting the interview process for a new permanent manager this week.
He said: “Michael’s happy to stand in with me and help. We’re not going to rush into anything.
“I’ve had a lot of people apply for the role, but obviously we took it on Saturday.
“I have got a few people lined up to start interviewing.
“It’s not really a job for me. I’ve got too much going on, to be honest.
“I don’t mind doing it for a few weeks, but it’s just everything else that goes with it, the training and everything that goes with that.
“I’m all right to do it for a couple of weeks until we find the right person.
“I’m officially down as the manager and Michael’s come in as the coach to take the training. We’ve got a few people who have stepped in and the physio’s still with us.
“I’m going to whittle the applicant down to maybe five or six that I think potentially can do the job and have a chat with them.”
Southern Counties East Division 1 table
Broad had seen enough of the players to know what they could do and was relieved to hear that they were keen to stay after Porter’s exit.
They made a great start at Sheppey with Artem Kuchkov scoring twice inside the first 14 minutes. Leo Dodds made it 3-0 before the break and Ethan Stewart added a fourth on 78 minutes.
“All credit goes to the players,” he said. “It was just a matter of setting them up and telling them what we wanted to do. Luckily, they actually listened.
“We set them up in a system that we believed would work and they put into play what we told them to do. It worked out well.
“The conditions were horrendous. The wind was really bad and Sheppey’s quite open.
“We set them up slightly differently and the boys did the business, took our chances, defended well. We were 3-0 up at half-time and then it was just a matter of seeing the game out and not conceding.
“I’d like to thank Michael Dodsworth so much. He’s jumped in at the drop of a hat [last] Tuesday.
“We got the boys in for an open conversation about the past couple of results. We believe in the players and it’s about getting the best out of them.
“I didn’t sack Scott. It was his own decision but I didn’t really know whether any players were going to leave.
“But we had positive feedback from the players. I only had a couple of days to get everything together.
“I think over 20 turned up for training [last Tuesday] and they were all up for it and wanted to put the last couple of results behind them. They did the business on Saturday.”
Lordswood were relegated last season and are keen to get back into the Premier Division straight away.
Broad said: “That’s the plan. We want to go up but I don’t want to be just throwing silly money at it. I know there’s a lot of money thrown around in these leagues.
“The squad we’ve got is capable of doing something if we get the best out of them.
“We were doing okay up until the Rochester game and fell apart in one game. Then we didn’t get a reaction in the following game against Lewisham (losing 3-0). Luckily we got a reaction on Saturday.”
Lordswood visit FC Elmstead on Saturday in the Kent Senior Trophy first round.
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