Text at top (next game etc)

Next Game: Rushall At Home In The League On Saturday 30th November At 3.00pm

Saturday, October 02, 2010

Fans Want Harvey Back At Edgar Street?

"...and we've had a lot of texts along those lines tonight..."

The BBC Hereford and Worcester text service is a fantastic, and immediate, poll of the fans views. And one view has kept on circulating over the past few weeks - Jimmy Harvey is the man to guide us out of this mess.

The 52 year old had 278 games in the centre of midfield of the Bulls side of the early and mid-80's before going on to be an integral part of the Tranmere team that rose from the foot of the fourth tier to the currently-named Championship in three years.

His first managerial job was at Morecambe, where he took a Conf North level side with three digit attendances and turned them into legitimate Conference title challengers while also helping to develop their youth structure. His next job saw him take a rock bottom Forest Green side and, inside 18 months, put them 8th in the Conference. A considerable feat for a part-time side thesedays.

After a brief spell at the circus that was Chester City, he now finds himself mid-table in Conf North with Stalybridge Celtic, roughly in the same place he inherited the side from Steve Burr but with a reduced budget to his predecessor even though his side has gone full-time. He was also forced to sell his central defensive lynchpin John Hardiker just a couple of weeks into the season.

In short he has a knack of getting the best out of players, especially one Stuart Fleetwood, a skill in making a side better than it appears on paper rather than the current worse. And he plays the football the fans crave for - he did it as a player, he does it as a manager.

Harvey has openly expressed his love of Hereford United at any opportunity, with a wide variety of fans over the years recounting meetings with him at various events. He married a local girl and, given half a chance, he would love to return one day.

Maybe that day is getting closer.