Boss' Rangers vision is still the same

Despite chairman Mike Hughes dropping the bombshell that relegation may not be certain, new manager Greg Clowes' vision for Stafford Rangers remains the same.

Rangers were today looking into the possibility that they could be handed a shock reprieve in the Blue Square North, due to the fall out of Rushden & Diamonds being expelled from the Blue Square pyramid.

That could propel Clowes and his assistant Dorian Garner, already stepping up a division from the Evo-Stik League Division One South, into the second tier of non-league football.

The 130 supporters on hand at Marston Road for last night's open meeting looked straight at the manager's reaction, but Clowes was talking straight.

He said: "It's fine by me – the players that I am going to bring into this football club would then get the chance to step up to the Blue Square North, rather than the Evo-Stik Premier League.

"They should be up for the challenge, like me and Dorian are."

The players which the Rangers boss refers to are the Newcastle Town charges he has spent four years working with, before jumping ship to Marston Road at the start of the month.

As many as eight players could be making the move from the Lyme Valley Stadium but 25-goal winger Jordan Johnson will not be among them, after lining up a move to Hyde.

But one was in attendance last night in Clowes' captain from last season, Paul Donnelly, an ex-professional defender who started out at Port Vale.

From last season's Rangers squad, Grant Goodhead was also on hand, while the manager revealed verbal agreements have been reached with goalkeeper Lee Evans and defender Mark Dudley.

The rest of the team will take shape before the players return for pre-season training on June 28 and Clowes, despite last night's news, is clearly preparing for life in the Evo-Stik Premier League.

But that doesn't mean that the Rangers boss doesn't believe the club should be playing at a higher level.

He said: "It's a big challenge and we have all got to take a reality check, because I haven't got a magic wand.

"But you can go anywhere in the country, ask any fan of non-league football and they will know exactly who Stafford Rangers are.

"We can get this club back to where it belongs, but I ask for time."