The search for a new Ebbsfleet manager continues this week after vice-chairman Peter Varney took responsibility for Steve Brown’s doomed spell in charge.

Brown was sacked last Wednesday and Mr Varney has been inundated with applications from potential replacements.

But having championed Brown’s credentials when the former Charlton defender was appointed Liam Daish’s successor in June 2013, Mr Varney accepts he must shoulder some of the blame for what followed.

He said: "I brought him here, so it’s as much my failure as it’s his failure.

"We all know when we get involved in football that the expectation levels these days are (high) right across the board. If you’re not winning things, the fans are unhappy. Social media plays a big part and it starts to take its toll.

"The home form, having won one in six, was what caused an issue for him. But I’ve got to say that he came here with four weeks to go for training and we had no players. He did a great job in the first year.

"The expectation levels have gone up this year and the one-in-six probably was what caused the change."

Fleet caretaker manager Daryl McMahon was surprised and saddened to see Brown lose his job.

He said: "Normally when a manager goes, a lot of people are happy because they haven’t been playing or the results haven’t been going well. There’s normally an injection of energy but the way this one’s gone is the exact opposite.

"The lads loved him, so it was a little bit of a kick in the whatsits to lose him.

"It’s ridiculous how much pressure’s put on coaches and managers, especially young ones.

"How are you going to get experience and how is the next generation of English managers going to come through if you’re under that much pressure in Conference South?

"What chance have you got of having a career in it? It’s difficult."

Read the full story in the Gravesend Messenger.