Clive Cook says he’ll know when his time is up as Hythe manager – but that time is not yet.

Cook claimed it was ‘business as usual’ this week as he began the search to bolster the Cannons squad which fell short of the Ryman League Division 1 South play-offs this season having flirted with the title race until midway through the season.

Town finished their campaign on a high with a 1-0 win at Horsham – their second straight victory – to claim seventh place and finish as the highest placed of the seven Kent clubs in the division.

Cook attended a board meeting on Monday night – one which he insisted had been in the diary for some time.

He said: “It happens every year to get to know our thoughts about the year gone by.

“I talked about the season and how I saw things and how I see things going ahead. You can’t just say we ‘coulda, shoulda’ done this or that – it’s football, it doesn’t work like that.

“I am disappointed with our final position, of course, and there are things that I would probably do differently if they came up again.

“But now it’s up to me to start work towards next season, which will be important with a proposed shake-up of the divisions the following year.”

Cook admitted he had ‘heard rumours’ about managers touting themselves for the Reachfields job next season and admitted football management ‘can be quite a nasty rat race.’
He said: “It’s business as usual as far as I am concerned.

“I’ll be there next season – though I’m not saying that I definitely would be if we don’t start well, or if we find ourselves in the same situation at the end of the season again."

FULL STORY IN THIS WEEK'S FOLKESTONE AND HYTHE EXPRESS

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