Tim Flowers could have quit earlier

Stafford Rangers chairman Mike Hughes has revealed manager Tim Flowers first told him he wanted to quit on New Year's Day after announcing his shock resignation.

Flowers was confirmed as having left Marston Road yesterday, hours before the team hosted local rivals AFC Telford in a crunch Blue Square North local derby.

His assistant, Matt Elliott, was in charge for last night's game at Marston Road, which ended in a 2-0 defeat for Rangers after a goal in each half from the Bucks.

The reign of Flowers, who was appointed in October, lasted just nine games with no Blue Square North wins after two points from eight games, although he did taste success in the Staffordshire Senior Cup at Market Drayton Town last month.

And Hughes confessed he had to talk him out of quitting before the reverse fixture at AFC Telford on New Year's Day, which ended in a goalless draw, after a player shortage had left him with two goalkeepers on a three-man bench.

The chairman said: "It came to a head on the morning of the game, where players were crying off and we struggled to get a full bench.

"He didn't feel he could continue and I asked him to give it a bit more time, but he's obviously had a couple more matches to think about it, he's not enjoying it and doesn't want to carry on.

"I think he couldn't get his head around the quirks of non-league football, where you are dealing with part-time players, and his standards are such that he expected everyone to turn up for training each and every time.

"It doesn't work like that at this level."

The New Year's Day game saw loan signing Sebastian Harris, Tom Moss, Niall Maguire and Chris Sterling all fail to show up and join the squad, citing a breakdown in communication between themselves and the manager for their absence.

Maguire and Moss haven't played for the club since, Harris has returned to Northampton while Sterling has only been used as a late substitute in the last two games.

Defeats against Alfreton and Hyde since that draw at Telford have left Rangers six points from safety in the Blue Square North, facing the very real possibility of relegation to the third tier of non-league football for the first time since 1996.

The board will meet before Saturday's home game with Vauxhall Motors to discuss Flowers' successor, the second time they have had to replace a manager who has walked away from the club this season after Chris Brindley quit in October.

But the chairman insists that, despite everything, he doesn't regret the appointment.

Hughes added: "At the time, everyone on the board felt it was the correct decision. Even with what has gone on since, I still think he was the right man."