TALKS have been taking place to bring in the new manager at Farnham Town.

And chairman Paul Tanner insists: It’s vital we get the right man this time.

Last season was a turbulent one for the club in the Combined Counties Premier South. Town started the campaign with Colin Millard in the hot seat, he was replaced by Tony Reid, and with a handful of games remaining he left, with Roger Steer, Tristan Rees, Chris Adams and Dan Goodall taking the reins.

Tanner said: “We have to make the right decision that will hopefully last longer than the previous two.

“Our new management committee agreed the process this time will probably be a little more prolonged than before.

“But we would like to announce something soon so we have it settled before we go into pre-season.

“We had a good response from applicants – half we don’t think are up to the job, but others are credible with experience and know-how – and we also approached two or three ourselves.

“Two of them have managed at a higher level and have been out of the game for a while, and one is involved with a club now.

“There’s a lot of talk going on in the background which is why things are taking time, but we can’t take too long.

“So much is going on at the club, with the merger with Farnham United and their young players, that we want to approach things a little differently, and have a pathway to develop our own players.

“We want to do more in the community and we are looking for someone who is capable of dealing with that kind of all-round package at the club.

“But we still have the ambition to move up although we appreciate that is difficult – it’s hard to win leagues and promotion at any level. But I would like to see us competing in the top six next season.

“We have made a couple of slip-ups with our appointments over the past 12 to 18 months which haven’t exactly set us back but has made us reassess things. It’s now absolutely vital we get the next appointment right and that’s why it might take a little longer – we have to get the right person in.

“I’ll be honest, I thought the last two were going to be right but for different reasons it didn’t work out, whether that was football reasons or financial reasons.

“We need to take a deep breath and take our time to get the right person who understands where we want to be.

“We thought Tony was the right appointment after Colin – his background and past managerial experience in Step 5 really fitted.

“With the early results it looked as if things would move forward well, but there were some issues that didn’t fit kindly with the club.

“It wouldn’t have mattered whether we were top or bottom in the league, we had to make decisions. I wouldn’t shift all the blame on Tony – players and managers at all levels get on or don’t get on, and when players are not contracted you are governed by how players react, rather than discipline the players to how the manager wants to deal with things.

“That’s how hard it can be at our level, and it’s fair to say not every player was on board with everything that was going on, and that slipped into an unfortunate approach to games, with a lack of performance and a lack of results.

“Things started well and went downhill gradually and it was probably the right time for Tony to move on.

“We are progressing well off the field but on the pitch things have been missing for the past couple of years and we have not progressed too far.

“We need some stability but we still want the results.

“Tristan, Dan and Roger worked hard with the players and they did well in the last four games, and there was a better feeling in the dressing room.

“If the right person isn’t out there, the boys showed at the end of the season they are pretty capable. The players responded well to the three of them.

“But we aren’t sure yet where we will go next– but we have to make the right decision.”