The king is dead, long live the king! The arrival of June this week won’t have come as too much of a surprise; not if you’ve been keeping tabs on the Cliff Richard calendar in your kitchen. But with only 200-odd shopping days left til Christmas, the start of this summer (no laughing back there) also marks the start of the next chapter in the history of Stevenage Football Club.
And that brand new chapter also comes as no surprise, given that it was confirmed about a week-and-a-half ago. A new man is now grasping the managerial reins at the Lamex and that man is Teddy Sheringham – or former England, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United striker Teddy Sheringham, if we’re going to give him his fully search engine optimised name.
The team that’ll be surrounding him on the dugout is starting to take shape too, with Kevin Watson coming in as his assistant. Meanwhile, there’s a familiar face still about the place and providing a degree of continuity as Darren Sarll gets the gig as first team coach – stepping up from his previous role within the youth setup and giving his UEFA A License a chance to shine.
Now the curtain has been lifted on the new regime, we’ll be expecting to some more developments with regards to the playing side of things. Morecambe skipper Mark Hughes is already down as the second Mark Hughes who’ll have turned out for Boro’ over the years, but we could’ve fielded a full team with the players we released – that means plenty more arrivals are coming.
You can be sure there’ll be plenty of transfer rumours doing the rounds before the big kick-off – it’s just a question of the ones worth believing!
And once the team photo is sorted? How do we build on reaching the playoffs last term? It’s a new era for Teddy Sheringham too, taking charge of a club for the first time. He proved a hit with the Hammers as striking coach last season, but there’s still few clues as to how we’re going to take on League Two when the new season starts. Maybe that’s all part of the excitement?
The days and weeks ahead will no doubt shed some more light on what Teddy and his team are putting together in this brave new world at Boro’. The board has gambled on a change of management and we’re right behind this new approach; this new empire we’re creating. If nothing else, it’s because – as the picture above proves – Teddy Boys don’t half look the part…
