Kevin Watson has no regrets about taking the manager’s position at Herne Bay despite Isthmian Premier relegation; They end their season at home to champions Bishop’s Stortford

Kevin Watson has no regrets about taking over as Herne Bay’s boss despite Isthmian Premier relegation.

Watson replaced Ben Smith in November and was joined by Adam Flanagan as his assistant, with the club bottom.

Bay needed to win their final two fixtures to stand any chance of survival but lost 4-1 at Wingate & Finchley last Saturday as their first-ever taste of Step 3 football proved brief.

Watson said: “It’s not for us [the management team] to necessarily publicly say about the jobs we’ve done.

“But what I can say with confidence is that I feel we have got a clear conscience. That’s important.

“Obviously we’re hyper-critical and, even after the game on Saturday, myself and Adam were thinking ‘What could we have done differently?’. You have to have that kind of lens when you’re doing what we do.

“There’s moments in the season we look at and think how the season could have been quite different - had we got a result there, or had we not had those injuries, or should we have changed that tactically. But if you don’t have that collective reflection, then, maybe, you don’t learn as much.

“Certainly, I’ve got to put public my thanks to the people we’ve been working with. The players at the club that have been supportive and genuine, the fanbase and Adam. He came in to support me at a time I’d chosen to take a job that was a difficult job.

“People at the time thought we were crazy doing so because we were putting ourselves in a vulnerable position from the outset. But it’s not one I regret. “Adam’s been extremely supportive and I’d like to think we have learnt aspects, working with each other, because we knew each other well, played together and stayed in contact.

“There’s Joe [Radford], the goalkeeper coach, Georgina [Dean,