Harper feels no added pressure at Hampton (From Surrey Comet)

Harper feels no added pressure at Hampton

11:09am Friday 4th January 2013 in Sport By Stuart Amos

Hampton & Richmond Borough boss Mark Harper has hit back at the club’s board for airing their dirty washing in public.
 

The Station Road hierarchy took the unusual step of issuing a statement ahead of the 0-0 New Year’s Day draw at Kingstonian, warning the Beveree chief had three games to turn his side’s faultering form around and save his job.
 

Defender Anson Cousins’ 30th minute sending off on Tuesday gave the Beavers little chance of securing a winning start to the trio of fixtures that will decide their manager’s destiny.
 

Hampton have won only two Ryman Premier League games since October, a run that has seen them slip from table toppers to mid-table also-rans.
 

And the manager has had the support of the club's powers that be and insists he feels no added pressure to achieve.

“It is the sort of thing you don’t say in public and I don’t think saying something like that puts the club or the directors in a decent light,” he said.
 

“I knew it was coming, but I didn't agree with it. If that is what they think is needed then so be it.

"There is always pressure to get results, so that doesn’t bother me.
 

“The results haven’t been good, but we haven’t had the rub of the green like we did early in the season.
 

“I’ve always said that being successful in this league is not so much about ability, but more about attitude.
 

“In non-League football you never know what sort of attitude the players will turn up with after a week or day at work.
 

“You have to be prepared to work hard in this league and with that comes consistency.”

Despite the poor results, Harper has vowed to stay true to his footballing philsophies as he bids to turn the club’s fortunes around.
 

“You can play good football and stil lget results, but it is about working hard,” he added.
 

“We haven’t got the players to change our style and because we cannot train on the pitch at the moment – because of the weather – we aren’t able to work on little things either.
 

“The chairman has been trying to find a proper training ground for a while to address the problem, but they are all booked up.
 

“Our players are good enough to know what they need to do on a game day, but it does not help things when you cannot train properly.”
 

* Hampton & Richmond Borough confirmed Joel Ledgister, JJ Bates and Neil Jenkins had all left the club on Thursday, ahead of Saturday’s trip to Lewes.