Tonbridge Angels chair Sophie Purves explains why manager Craig Nelson was sacked after 11 games in charge

Tonbridge Angels chair Sophie Purves has no regrets over the appointment of former boss Craig Nelson - but feels the role probably came too soon for him.

Nelson was the surprise choice to succeed Jay Saunders at Longmead at the end of last season after impressing during the interview process.

He made the jump to National League South after one season with Lewes in the Isthmian Premier, and before that was working at Step 5 as manager of SCEFL club Glebe.

Nelson was sacked on Sunday, with Tonbridge 15th in the table, and replaced by ex-Millwall captain Alan Dunne.

“It was a left-field appointment at the time,” said Purves.

“But I don’t have any regrets. I still maintain that Craig was the best person for us.

“We did take a chance and I think Craig did, too, and my feeling and the board’s feeling, unanimously, was that it was probably a little bit too early.

“And we take responsibility for that as well.”

Nelson went seven games without a win, leading to concerns among board members over the robustness of the team, before getting off the mark with a 3-1 win at Salisbury.

That was the start of a four-match unbeaten run as Angels beat Steyning Town 6-1 in an FA Cup replay, after a 2-2 draw, followed by an excellent 1-0 win at Worthing on Saturday.

But Nelson’s fate was already sealed.

“We had a number of concerns about being robust enough to stay in this league,” said Purves.

“It was a very, very hard decision, because Craig is an outstanding person but we just felt we had a fraility and that’s probably our style of play and some of the recruitment as well.

“We felt we needed some more experience to try and make sure we stay in the National League South.

“We cannot criticise the effort of Craig and his coaching team.

“Everybo