‘A complete shock’ – Dan Greenwood’s reaction on being told he was being replaced as Fleetlands manager

Greenwood has left Powder Monkey Park in the wake of leading the Coptermen to an eighth-placed finish in Division 1.

That was a fine effort for a club who had only been promoted from the Hampshire Premier League last summer.

Fleetlands also came within a penalty shoot-out of reaching the Portsmouth Senior Cup final at Fratton Park, after holding higher tier neighbours Fareham to a 0-0 semi-final draw at Cams Alders.

But despite those achievements, Fleetlands chairman Iain Sellstrom decided to make a change.

As previously reported in The News, it’s a high profile one - ex-Pompey star Steve Claridge joining the club in a role Sellstrom outlined as a ‘managerial consultant.’

Greenwood, who had joined Fleetlands in late 2021 after being assistant manager at the HPL rivals Hayling United, said: ‘I can leave with my head held high.

‘Every target I was set, I hit. The club were sixth or seventh in the Hampshire League when I came in.

‘My only target at the start of last season was to stay up, and by finishing eighth we did that convincingly.

‘We didn’t even have regular training when I came in, now there’s training for the first team, the reserves, the under-18s.

‘I bought into the one club vision - I used around eight under-18s last season.

‘I don’t think I’ve got enough credit for the job I did.

‘I know the last 10 games weren’t very good but we had to play a lot of games in a short space of time.

‘We had a young squad that I felt was only going to get better.

‘I knew from the last 10 games that we had to add to it.’

Due to hardly playing much either side of Christmas, and with March seeing prolonged wet weather, Fleetlands certainly had a congested finish.

They had to shoehorn their final nine league games into a 22-day period, a run which included games against Andover New Street, Newport IoW and New Milton - the clubs which ended in the top three.

‘I’ve got no bad blood with Iain (Sellstrom), that’s the road he wants to go down. I’m forever grateful to him for giving me the chance.

‘It’s just a shame I won’t be allowed to finish the job I started.

‘When I came in, Iain said to me he wanted to be in the Wessex Premier in three years. I thought we could do it in two - next season would have been the second.

‘I believe the club can go to the Wessex Premier, they certainly have a chairman with the drive and will to do that.’

While Claridge will be tasked with realising Sellstrom’s step 5 dream, Greenwood is looking to make a quick return to management.

‘I’ll be looking for another job, as I didn’t want to leave football,’ he remarked.

‘I don’t mind a project, I just don’t want to join a club with no ambition.’