Chairman's praise for Rangers boss
Stafford Rangers chairman Jon Downing has hailed manager Chris Brindley for steadying the ship on a shoestring as the club continue to tighten their belts financially.
The storm that blighted Marston Road last season as their much-documented financial woes hit home appear to have dissipated this term, although there is still little room for error.
Brindley believed in pre-season that he was working worth with one of the lowest budgets of the league, and certainly less than half what his predecessor Steve Bull had the previous summer.
But slowly the mould of a new-look team is starting to take shape, with new blood constantly being added to the squad as the manager tries to find the right formula.
Unearthed gems such as Fabrice Kassiama, Manny Udoji and Andy Owens are starting to come into their own alongside the core of those retained from last season and signed in the summer.
Today, Rangers sit in the relative safety of 13th in the league and – although it has been a bumpy ride – the chairman believes his manager is worth his weight in gold.
He said: "Chris has done a good job and you have to give credit to the lad. He has had the difficult task of bringing players in with the budget we have, a sustainable figure which we must adhere to.
"Unpopular decisions have to be made in the boardroom, we have to pull the reins in and run it as a business.
"It's got the club through to where we are today - 13th in the league with young players for the future has been a good effort.
"None of the lads that came up and down with us from the Blue Square Premier are still here, so that sort of turnover in players was never going to be easy."
