Could Westley be off to Cheltenham?
December 14, 2009 2 Comments
Rumours surfaced this afternoon that Stevenage manager Graham Westley could be in line to become the new manager of League 2 Cheltenham Town. The Robins are without a manager after sacking Martin Allen last week. Allen was initially suspended by the club before being told he would be sacked after an ‘incident’ at a nightclub. Cheltenham, who were relegated from League 1 last season are currently in 21st place in the table, just 4 points above the relegation zone.
Whilst I doubt these rumours are true, even if they are, I can’t see Westley leaving the club now with the position it is in. Financially we are secure with no debts and on the pitch we are enjoying one of our best seasons since being promoted to the Conference back in 1994. In my opinion I think it is between us and Oxford for the title and I’m confident that if we continue to do our job then the U’s will slip up at some point.
Although I’m sure Westley would love the opportunity to manage in the football league, I don’t really see Cheltenham as much of a step up. Whaddon Road is a small stadium and they only average around 3,000 at home. I think Stevenage are capable of doing that if and when they get promoted. At the moment I think Boro are in a better position and some could argue are a better team. Going to Cheltenham would be a big job for Westley. He would have to save them from relegation to the Conference and try and sort out what is an ageing team, most of whom are out of contract in the summer. They also have one of the oldest strike partnership’s in the league in Barry Hayles and Julian Alsop.
In other news, Boro were handed another home tie in the next round of the FA Trophy this morning. This time, Blue Square North side Vauxhall Motors will be the visitors to Broadhall Way. Vauxhall are currently struggling at the bottom of the BSN and Boro will be confident of reaching the 3rd round. Vauxhall don’t really have any players that Boro fans will recognise. The only one I could see from their team profiles is former Altrincham defender Chris Lane, who isn’t the most popular figure in Stevenage.
Lastly, Histon don’t look like they will be around for much longer. Financial problems have hit the Cambridgeshire side hard and the club have already suspended manager Steve Fallon due to disagreements over budgets. Josh Simpson has been sold to Peterborough and key players such as Craig Pope, John Kennedy and Jamie Barker have had their contracts terminated at the Glassworld Stadium. It looks like it will be a tough end of the season for Histon.
“The Abbey Business Stadium” is the same size as “Broadhall Way” and I am sure them attendances figures of 3000 is this season which has been dire. When Cheltenham were in the conference (Cotterill era) we had an average of 5000+. I am sure when we start to win matches and seeing glories we would beat Stevenage attendances every week. Cheltenham have history founded in 1887 and Stevenage are only 33 years old.
I would welcome Graham Westley with open arms and I would imagine he would want to better his career and Cheltenham would be an ideal opportunity for him.
Yeah I remember when you were in the Conference, but every team that did well in them days attracted 4000/5000 crowds. Believe it or not we got 6000+ to a Stevenage v Kidderminster game in the late nineties. I’m not saying you’re a small club, just not much of a step up from where he already is.
I don’t think Westley will leave anyway.