Dursley Sport
Interview with new Dursley Town manager Terry Stevenson
11:00am Friday 10th February 2012
NEW manager Terry Stevenson is confident he can keep Dursley Town in Northern Senior League Division One.
The former Berkeley Town boss replaced Andy Smith at the helm last week, with a disappointing tally of eight points from 16 games and only goal difference keeping them off the bottom of the table ahead of Stroud.
Stevenson said: “We’ve got the players and the talent to do it, so if we are lucky and everything goes for us I think we will stay up.
“If I stay next year I will try to get more experience with players from the County League, but we’ll see how well this goes really.
“I just want to keep Dursley in the league they should be in.”
Stevenson resigned as Berkeley manager at the end of the 2009/10 season before joining Dursley as a player, but he only made four appearances earlier this season under Smith.
The former Yate Town goalkeeper will give Pete Dykes a chance to keep his place between the sticks but could return to the side yet himself.
However, Stevenson’s main priority is to guide the team to safety and he believes a break from management has done him some good.
He said: “Football management has changed. I did it for 12 years at Berkeley, I used to be an aggressive manager but now it’s mostly younger kids in the squad and you change the way you are with them.
“I had a chat with a couple of players and decided to do it until the end of the season because I want to see how it goes.
“I didn’t want to let them down because I played there for one season.”
Although Stevenson sees a lot of potential in a young Dursley squad, he is keen to add some experience and has already brought in Adam Paul from Whitminster and former Sharpness man Ricky Swift.
He was frustrated that the freezing weather meant last week’s game against Stonehouse was postponed, and hopes to kick-start his reign with a win at Sharpness at Hamfields Leisure Centre this Saturday (3pm).
Stevenson said: “Another week won’t do any harm, but I was confident we would’ve beaten Stonehouse because everyone was on a bit of a high.
“We’ve got a local derby now against Sharpness where anything can happen.”