City favourite takes first step onto management ladder (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

City favourite takes first step onto management ladder

2:30pm Monday 9th November 2009

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(1)

Jamie Lawrence believes City are going the right route by delving into the non-league scene.

Lawrence was a firm favourite with the Valley Parade fans for the way he always played with his heart on his sleeve.

And he reckons that battling attitude is encapsulated with the influx of former part-time players because they are so keen to make their mark in the professional game.

Scott Neilson, Steve Williams and James Hanson have all made an impression in the first three months of the season. Throw in James O’Brien and Jon Bateson, both rejected by Premier League clubs, and you have a glut of arrivals with a major point to prove.

That, for Lawrence, is the key to keeping a hungry and enthusiastic squad.

Lawrence speaks from experience. He was playing for Cowes Sports while serving time in an Isle of Wight jail when he was spotted by Sunderland.

He said: “A lot of non-league players will have been released by football clubs when they were young. You know what clubs can be like and that can batter their confidence.

“So when they get this chance a couple of years down the line, they are absolutely desperate to take it.

“As a player, you’ve got to be mentally strong. Football isn’t all about good days – you have a lot of bad ones too and it’s how you respond.

“You’ve got to take the rough with the smooth and still come out fighting. These boys have had their setbacks and want to show everyone that they are good enough to make it.

“You know what I was like as a player. I came from nothing. I’d been in prison and then I was playing in the league, so you knew what you’d get from me every week.

“These lads will feel the same. They will go out there to give it their best shot.”

After years of knocking on the door, Lawrence has just landed his first job in management. The former Jamaican international, who dreams of taking the City reins one day, is the new gaffer at Ashford Town in the Ryman League.

Lawrence’s new charges won 2-1 at Harrow on Saturday, although he deliberately took a back-seat having got the job less than 48 hours earlier. His first proper game in the dugout is tomorrow night’s Isthmian League Cup tie at Fleet Town.

He said: “I’ve been waiting so long for this. It’s another chapter in my life just starting.

“There were 50 people in for the job and they short-listed nine, so I was buzzing to get an interview in the first place.

“I’ve been up for jobs before and haven’t even got a reply. I went for five different clubs and got one interview.

“I’ve got the coaching badges and I just wanted that first step on the ladder. Ashford have given me that and I’m really grateful.”

Lawrence always holds Paul Jewell as the best manager he worked under. He will use past experiences, good and bad, to shape his own hot-seat style.

He said: “You don’t have to play the hard man to get a point across. I won’t be bullying them.

“But everyone is going to know where they stand with me. I’ll be straight with them, which is all you want from your manager.

“I learned something from everyone I came into contact with during my career. Some was good and some wasn’t but the most important thing is that you are honest.”

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(1)