Matlock Town have announced the appointment of Paul Phillips as their new manager. He replaces Steve Kittrick who left by mutual consent on Wednesday this week.
The club have announced that goalkeeping coach Steve Shuttleworth and sports therapist Mark Mullins will take temporary charge of the team for the Saturday league trip to Mickleover Sports before Phillips officially starts his tenure with next Tuesday evening’s crucial league trip to Grantham Town.
Phillips was working as Mossley’s assistant manager before taking over the Gladiators helm. His last managerial job was with Derbyshire rivals Buxton where he resigned in November last year after a poor start to this season’s league campaign. Buxton finished 5th last season and secured a play-off place in the Northern Premier League under the leadership of the new Gladiators boss.
Phillips is an interesting choice by the Matlock Town board to be their next manager given his close connections to their main rivals. Phillips must clearly see this as an excellent opportunity to get back into management and make an instant return impact in a league in which he has unfinished business with.
The new manager knows the pressure will be on right from the start regardless of how Matlock get on against Mickleover Sports this weekend. Phillips will meet the squad for the first time on Saturday and will need to decide quickly as to what his favoured eleven is and what areas there are for possible further additions to the squad built by predecessor Steve Kittrick.
It should become apparent to Phillips very early on that he has plenty of talent in the squad to focus on and he will need to address early on what the issues are that prevents them from currently fulfilling their potential in the current league campaign.
Phillips will have been sorely disappointed by how his time at Buxton ended especially after the 5th place finish he secured with the team in the 2018/19 campaign and I’m sure he will be desperate to make amends and start on the right foot with the Gladiators.
Phillips’s first task will be simply to instil an air of confidence and swagger back to the team’s league campaign. There’s no doubt that the team playing to their full potential shouldn’t be anywhere near the bottom three and should be around the top half. Phillips’s goal by the end of this season will be to attempt to secure a top half finish in the league and to carry on their impressive cup form by winning the Derbyshire Senior Cup and enjoying at least an extended run in the Integro League Cup.
Either way, Phillips’s appointment is sure to be one to get Gladiators fans talking and there will be plenty of attention to see how he starts his new role in what is a crucial time for the club.
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