Tim Flowers' vow as Rangers boss
Tim Flowers has vowed to bring more than just a big name to Stafford Rangers after being appointed manager at Marston Road.
Tim Flowers has vowed to bring more than just a big name to Stafford Rangers after being appointed manager at Marston Road.
The former England goalkeeper, who started his career at Wolves, will cut his teeth in the Blue Square North after being made a full boss for the first time yesterday.
His shock arrival at Marston Road to replace Chris Brindley, who quit 10 days ago, makes him the second high-profile name to manage the club in recent years, after Steve Bull's 10-month reign in 2008.
Flowers will take charge after tomorrow's game at Nuneaton, but is not under contract at Marston Road and is working under a gentleman's agreement.
However, the 43-year-old has vowed to take his latest challenge as seriously as anything in his career.
He said: "I am not here to mess about, I am here to make this club better, in any shape or form that I can.
"That is my aim now, to get the team up the league and see if we can make a fist of it.
"The ambition is to get Stafford Rangers back to where they were, when I was a kid they were one of the best non-league teams in the country.
"There is still a fan base, whether that is 400, 450 or whatever at the moment. The challenge is to bring back the 1,000-plus crowds that were here.
"Maybe some people will be surprised that I have took this job, but why shouldn't I?"
Flowers possesses considerable name value at non-league level after a playing career spent almost exclusively in the top-flight, winning a Premier League winner's medal with Blackburn in 1995.
The 11-cap England international also has coaching pedigree having worked with the first-team goalkeepers at Leicester and Manchester City, also serving as assistant manager to Iain Dowie in spells at Coventry, QPR and in the Premier League with Hull last season.
His first managerial post will be in the sixth tier of English football, with a part-time club at a semi-professional standard.
It's a long way from the Premier League for Flowers, who insists his past exploits stand for nothing now.
He said: "That's a good thing, as far as I am concerned. Forget what I did, forget all that, it means nothing now.
"I don't care if anyone even remembers me as a player, I can sit down when I am 70 and think 'I did this and that.'
"I have been a coach now for seven years and assistant manager at three clubs - and it doesn't mean a thing in the Blue Square North.
"I am not going to big myself up, I will just get my head down and work.
"That's what I am about."
