Trio show early interest in vacant Borough job

Mick Catlin and Shaun Wilkinson are two candidates who have already thrown their name into the hat to become the next Privett Park boss.

Both are experienced in the game and know the difficult position the club is in.

Catlin spent nearly nine years at the club as Pike’s assistant and played a key role in the club’s successful rise from the Wessex League to National League South.

He also led the team out in their historic FA Trophy final appearance at Wembley.

Catlin only left the club in January when he became disillusioned with the way things were going.

He is currently assistant manager at Moneyfields but wants the vacant role at Borough.

‘I am interested and will speak with the club about the job,’ said Catlin

‘During my previous spell with the club we had some great times and built some good teams.

‘Unfortunately, now it needs to be done on a more sustainable basis. The club became the victim of its own success.

‘Instead of being happy to be in Conference South they made the mistake of trying to chase the next step.

‘I want to see how the land lies and would want to be given half a chance of succeeding.’

Wilkinson was at the club more recently having succeeded Catlin in a coaching role in January.

He managed to bring a few players in but soon left due to work commitments and is currently a coach at Baffins.

In reality, though, Wilkinson admits the off-the-field issues were also a factor and he is eyeing up a return to Privett Park.

Wilkinson said: ‘Being manager at Gosport is something that interests me.

‘I have aspirations to be a manager.

‘In the area of player recruitment, I believe I am the best candidate.

‘When I was at the club before I brought in two players from Eastleigh, and others from Ebbsfleet and Maidenhead.

‘I tapped into my contacts, but stressed they needed to be paid and it was my reputation on the line.

‘My mentality and philosophy is one if you are going to go down to go down fighting.’

In the meantime assistant-manager Danny Thompson is temporarily holding the reins.

He takes charge of Borough’s Southern League premier trip to Stratford Town tomorrow where they look for their first league win of the campaign.

Thompson has indicated he would be prepared to take the job on a permanent basis.

He said: ‘The thing that might go against me is a lack of experience.

‘But I am a local lad and played over 400 games for the club.

‘At the moment, though, my focus is on building up confidence for the next couple of games.’