Lloyd Hume intends to give Craig Stone every chance to become the new permanent manager of Ashford United after stepping down on Saturday night.
Co-owner Hume handed over control of first-team affairs to assistant manager Stone following the Nuts & Bolts’ 1-1 draw against Sheppey United.
And while he’s officially the interim boss to start with, Hume hopes Stone will prove to be his long-term successor.
“I’m certainly confident in Craig taking the reins,” said Hume, who stood down after 10 months in charge.
“I’ve announced Craig as the interim manager and I’m not looking at other managers right now.
“I’m looking at Craig to take over for the next 10 games and I fully expect him to be our manager moving forward.
“The best-laid plans can all go to waste and if we lost the next 10 games, that could change my mindset, but I don’t expect it to.
“I didn’t know Craig before last year, so he’s not someone I’ve known for a long time, but very quickly his football knowledge and his coaching expertise stood out.
“He’s an outstanding coach, his tactics are very strong, he’s a really good character, he’s likeable, he’s honest, but more important than anything, he works really hard at it and he wants it so badly.
“He’s a young manager, so there’s a risk with that, but our job is to help him and support him and I’m very confident he’ll get success, and that’s what I hope.
“I don’t want to look externally for a manager, I want that to come internally.
“That’s always been part of the plan that at some point during the season we’ll hand it over to him.
“I would much rather us be in a stronger position than we are but I’m confident he’s the right person.
“In all my businesses, I’d always rather someone come through internally who
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