Cards on the table

Another week begins, and the identity of our new manager remains unclear.

It seems it won't be the old manager, despite the rumours which were sweeping round the Abbey at the weekend. It won't be Steve Evans or Mark Cooper either, but it could be Alan Devonshire, who was apparently interviewed by Chairman George yesterday. By all accounts Devonshire's Hampton & Richmond side don't play the most attractive brand of football out there, but his proven record of finishing second and blowing it in the play-offs means he is well qualified to take the Abbey hotseat.

According to his comments on Radio Cambridgeshire this morning, Paul Carden's name has been withdrawn from the ring, if it was ever really in it in the first place. I've been thinking about our former assistant manager's position quite a bit in the last few days, and have come to the conclusion that it would be best for all concerned if he left the club.

Now if you've read this blog before you should know there is no bigger fan of Carden the player than me, so this feels a bit like kicking my dad - or at least my balding older brother - in the teeth. But if he isn't going to be manager, I think his presence will just make things too uncomfortable for the new incumbent. Most managers will want to bring in their own number two, so to be lumbered with the previous manager's assistant is unlikely to please them.

Carden himself says it "would be hard" to go back to being just a player, and I can't see that working either, especially as the new management team might see him as a potential threat to their jobs if we hit a bad patch of form. Plus he is presumably the highest earner at the club, so his departure would give the new man a bit of cash to appoint a back room team of his own and maybe bring in a player or two.

Of course, if he did go we would have a massive gaping hole in our midfield, but sadly, under the circumstances, I don't see any other way that we as a club can move on properly.