The new Coasters boss had a chat with league sponsors Vanarama as he pens a new chapter in football.
“Nothing lasts forever, certainly in football it doesn’t.”
Sure, every good thing has to come to an end at some point. But last month, a day many possibly thought would never come finally arrived.
Dave Challinor and AFC Fylde parted ways after nine, success-laden years. Far from an easy decision for anyone to make.
If they wanted a replacement who sympathises with their situation, they need look no further than then man that arrived at Mill Farm.
Jim Bentley had just made possibly the biggest decision of his life, leaving Morecambe – a club he had spent almost 18 years a part of, first as a player and then a manager.
“Morecambe will always have a big place in my heart, it’s like a second home to me,” Bentley said. “But life is like that and nothing lasts forever – certainly in football it doesn’t.
“The time was right to come here, it’s a great project heading in the right direction. Hopefully I can develop that big ambition and help this club get to the next level because that’s what I want to do, that’s why I’ve come here.
“Morecambe was a great learning curve and a great place to cut my teeth in management, but I’ve moved on and I’m looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead here.
“I’ve got big boots to fill,” he continued. “Chally has done amazing. I know him really well.”
“From the outside looking in, I have followed the club with Morecambe being just down the road.”
“I spent 17-and-a-half years at one club, and it was my time to move on for one reason or another.”
The Coasters are a club who make no secret of their monumental ambitions.
An FA Trophy win last season made the trophy cabinet that little bit tighter.
But in the here and now, the club find themselves in the midst of a sticky spell.
But as the old saying goes, form is temporary, class is permanent – and Bentley is ready to tease the class back out of his new crop of players.
“Football being the way it is you never know what’s around the corner,” he said.
“There’s nothing stopping any team building momentum, putting a run together and getting themselves in those top positions.
“The short-term is to win the next game, then it’s to pull away from the position we’re in because I don’t like talk of play-offs and promotion when we’re in a relegation battle.”
“We can’t take our eye off the ball and look too far ahead. We need to start winning games first and foremost and when we start doing that, we can look, week by week, month by month at whether we have what it takes to make a late push for promotion – ultimately that’s what we want to do.
“If that’s too much for us this season we’ll have to wait and see but at the minute, we can’t even begin to think about that until we pull away from the bottom of the table.
“The lads are in a good place and they’re training well. We’ve got a lot of big games coming up and we need to pull ourselves away from the position we’re in.”
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Getting involved with the MANarama campaign as we try to combat Prostate Cancer could not be more straight forward.
Give… donate to Prostate Cancer via text
Go… then bring others into play by sharing on social media with #GiveAndGo.
Donate by texting “MAN £10”, “MAN £5” or “MAN £3” (depending on the amount you want to donate) to 70004 & help stop prostate cancer from being a killer. Texts costs £10, £5 or £3 plus network charge. Prostate Cancer UK receives 100% of your donation. Obtain bill payers permission. Customer care 0800 082 1616. Charity No 100554
FREE MINIBUS FOR YOUR CLUB
To say thank you to the incredible fans and clubs of The National League for supporting our MANarama campaign in aid of Prostate Cancer UK, we’re giving a FREE minibus away to one club.
When your club hits £500 they go into the hat! Find your club’s page here:
http://justgiving.com/campaign/Manarama
Massive thank you to the clubs that have raised the most so far.
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