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Jenkins: I didn't always get support I needed at Bognor
Mick Jenkins had praise for players and fans - but some criticism for the club - as he looked back on his six months at Nyewood Lane.
Here's what Jenkins had to say on everything from the budget to washing the kit when he sat down to talk to the Observer three days after resigning...
On the squad...
Jenkins paid tribute to the great effort the players he had brought to Nyewood Lane had made in trying to keep the Rocks afloat.
He singled out the early-season loss of Brighton utility man Paul Watson as being a massive blow and added: "The fact we never got hold of a goalscorer was crucial.
"We did find one who would have scored goals at this level – Gavin McCallum. But we couldn't keep him here and lost him to Sutton.
"Others have come in and tried to score, and one or two have scored a few. But no-one has proved prolific enough.
"Bognor have sold Ben Watson and Luke Nightingale in recent times and this season Dan Beck wanted to move on. That's a lot of firepower to lose."
Jenkins said if he could go back to day one of his Nyewood Lane reign, he wouldn't do anything different if given the same resources.
"I'm not saying we didn't make mistakes. But we had to get a team together very quickly and we had to make snap decisions on players we'd have liked longer to think about. Having more time before the start of the season would have helped.
"And in many cases, there were players we wanted who we knew would have done the job for us but who the club couldn't afford.
"I got frustrated and angry as time went by and we were powerless to improve things. The job was becoming increasingly difficult."
Injuries and referees...
Jenkins felt the injuries and illness that hit his squad in recent weeks was a factor in poor results – and said 'sub-standard' officiating seen widely in Conference South had also hurt the team.
"I'm not one to go and confront referees now – it's got me into trouble in the past – but we have been on the end of some very poor decisions, the type that can influence results."
Signings...
Jenkins said he believed the signing of defender Sam Pearce was his shrewdest signing.
"I've known him since he was 16 and in the academy at Havant. At the start of the season, he was fourth in the pecking order of our centre-halves but he forced his way into the side and hasn't let us down once.
"Paul Hinshelwood is another 21-year-old who proved so valuable to us.
"Then there are the most senior players – Chris Tardif, Duncan Jupp, Danny Smith and Carl Pettefer. They've been players we've been able to hang our hats on – really good pros.
"A number of the players have contacted me since I've gone to say how much they've enjoyed working with me and Andy, and how disappointed they are we've gone.
Investment in the club...
"What I can't understand is why Bognor won't invest more in the team. How much do they invest in keeping that playing surface so perfect? What's the good in doing that if you don't also invest in the players playing on it?
"I feel more investment in the team is needed – and is possible. Look at the crowds for the last two home games; they total more than 2,000.
"That's the best part of 20,000 but I had no indication any penny of that would be made available to boost the playing budget."
"Maybe I expected too much from myself and from the team, but why not aim high? Why go in with a defeatist attitude? Why not try to do a little better than others think you can?
"The mentality of a lot of people is to get relegated. And there is a lot of apathy about that happening.
"Ten years ago, when I left Bognor, they were the leading non-league club in the area – ahead of the likes of Havant, Lewes and Eastbourne. But they have stood still while the others have progressed.
"Other clubs have had investment, but no-one will invest, not significantly anyway, in Bognor. I don't know whay that is."
Tactics...
Jenkins admitted the long-ball game the team often adopted was not 'the Bognor way' but said he had tried to put out a team that would get results – and when they had tried to play a more passing game, they had been no more successful.
And he said passing teams had not brought Bognor much success in recent seasons.
The Rocks fans...
Jenkins praised the Rocks fans for backing what he and Awford had tried to do, and said they deserved better than to be supporting an always-struggling team.
"We went to the fans' forum and were delighted by the positive attitude of fans there. They deserve something to be cheerful about.
"They're a credit to the club, and have a great passion for the club."
The Boxing Day defeat to Havant...
Jenkins said he had pretty much decided to resign when Jack Pearce told him just before Christmas more budget cuts were on the way.
Then on Boxing Day he took the 5-1 loss to Havant like 'a dagger through the heart'.
"It showed the difference between the two clubs and it hurt me and Andy as people with strong connections with them."
On the Rocks' hopes of staying up
Jenkins hopes the Rocks stay up but said they had a tough job doing so.
"I wish them well. I don't want them to get relegated, but things will get worse before they get better.
"Credit to Darin Killpartrick for taking on the manager's role, but he has his hands full and I'm sure he knows that."
The job of manager...
Jenkins estimated he had been working 40 hours a week for the Rocks much of the time – and was doing so without getting paid for the final six weeks. The rest of the backroom staff also went without wages for that period as finance ran dry.
"There was matchdays, training two nights a week, going to matches to look at players many evenings and some afternoons," he said.
"Then there were meetings, transporting players around, hours and hours spent on the phone. I spent all of New Year's Ever chasing a goalkeeper.
"Once or twice we even found ourselves taking the kit home and washing it because no-one else could do it. And if you are having to do things like that, you can't concentrate 100 per cent on preparing the team."
Jenkins singled out secretary Simon Cook for special praise, saying he had been an enormous help to him on the administration side of things.
On Andy Awford...
"I enjoyed immensely working with him," he said. "I'd like to think I will work with him again some day.
"He's a top-notch coach and his methods will be missed by the players and the club, especially defensively. His contacts have been vital too."
Low and high points...
Jenkins said one of the lowest points was the FA Cup replay loss to Ryman League Burgess Hill and their assortment of ex-Rocks.
"We drew at their place in a poor game but felt it would be different back at our place. They hadn't caused us that many problems.
"But the replay, which we lost 2-0, was a total embarrassment. We were let down by the players that night and hadn't seen it coming. But I didn't think of quitting at that time."
Jenkins said many performances away from home had left him feeling proud of his players, with the Setanta Shield victory at Lewes probably the high point.
"Then we went to Ramsgate and won in difficult circumstances with a very young team. And the following week we won at Fisher in the league and thought we had turned a corner.
"But we failed to score in our next three games and were back to square one."
Jenkins criticised a small minority of players who left the club without telling him.
He was cheered by the battling draw at Havant on January 1 but admitted: "I knew in my heart of hearts I wasn't going to carry on."
On not being asked to stay...
He was disappointed the club had not asked him and Awford to reconsider their resignation.
"I certainly didn't resign because I wanted them to beg us to stay, but I thought in the predicament the club are in, they might at least ask us to think again. But I didn't always get the support I needed, so maybe that was not a surprise.
"I'm grateful for the opportunity I was given to manage the club but I went with some ambition and I don't feel that ambition was matched.
"No-one broke any promises but I expected a bit more support than I got.
"I've got my own business in the building industry and I need to be focused on that. I've a young family to support so I couldn't go on working the hours I was for the club for nothing long-term.
"Would we have started to be paid again some time? I don't know."
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