8:20am Thursday 11th March 2010
By Ned Payne
STEVE Moore has categorically denied that Swindon Supermarine have agreed a deal to appoint Hungerford Town boss Alan Clark at the end of the season.
The future of current Marine manager Mark Collier was the subject of much speculation in the autumn, with Collier himself admitting that he considered stepping down from the role.
But after deciding to stay and receiving the full backing of the club’s executive committee, rumours of a replacement have quietened, until now.
Board member Moore, who is the club’s most recent chairman, moved quickly to scotch the speculation.
“There’s absolutely nothing in that whatsoever. I would never do anything like that behind Mark’s back,” he said.
“He (Clark) has shown interest in the job over the years when we’ve had a vacancy, but not in the last three or four years.
“He’s a good friend of the club but he’s not going to be our next manager, I will put a million pounds on that.”
Collier too, said he knew nothing of the murmurings that Clark, his brother-in-law, was to take over at Hunts Copse in the summer.
“I know nothing about that at all, and if I found out that was the case I would be absolutely livid,” he said.
“I have no idea where that’s come from. I would imagine it’s someone being a bit naughty.”
Marine make the trip to rock bottom Rugby Town in the Southern League this evening.
In what could be considered a relegation six-pointer, Rugby come into the game off the back of a 3-0 home defeat to Halesowen on Tuesday.
For most of the season, the Butlin Road side’s league form has been poor. Rugby have managed just two wins all campaign, against Clevedon and Oxford City, and look almost certain to be relegated.
But with a relatively new manager in place in the form of Lee Colkin and a few recent additions bolstering the quality of the squad, Marine need to careful of complacency this evening.
Collier’s side know they have the beating of their Warwickshire hosts, however, having demolished Rugby 5-1 on the opening day of the season.
Justyn McKay, Mark Barnes, Joe Harris, Alan Griffin and Chris Taylor scored the goals for the home side back in August.
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