Midfielder James Woods reckons Hanworth Villa have landed a real coup in bringing in John Hamsher as their new manager.
Hamsher, who played a handful of games for a pre-Al Fayed Fulham before spells with Rushden & Diamonds and Stevenage Borough, this week took over from Gary Jenkins in the Rectory Meadow hit seat.
Not only did he help Rushden and Stevenage take their first steps towards becoming Football League teams as a player, but the highlight of his managerial career was laying the foundations for Egham's promotion to the Southern League.
However, his immediate focus will be at the other end of the Combined Counties Premier, where Villa remain marooned at the bottom following Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Windsor.
Woods said: “John is very impressive. He's a football man and it shows through. His teams are organised and he prepares proper game plans. There has been a big shift towards tactical awareness and shape. I definitely hope to learn a lot from him.
“Considering what he has achieved before, I don't imagine he's just coming here to help us stay up, and will want to get us challenging for promotion. But it's about taking small steps, and his primary objective will be to get us out of the bottom three.”
Woods was in fact touted by his team-mates as the next manager when he filled in temporarily following Jenkins' departure , and while he has ambitions to stay in the game when he hangs his boots up, he doesn't plan to do that just yet.
He added: “It was just a bit of banter really. I'm only 31 and don't have any experience. Maybe in the future, but I've also got a baby on the way, so it wouldn't have been a good time.”
Villa, who went out of the Middlesex Senior Cup 3-1 in extra time to Spelthorne Sports on Tuesday night, have brought back their former striker Matt Grave, who also played under Hamsher at Egham and Guildford.
Meanwhile, in Division One, CB Hounslow United led 2-0 and 3-1 at Staines Lammas on Saturday through goals from Alex Headland, Daniel Bartlett and Owen Hunte, but conceded three goals in the last 20 minutes to lose 6-3.
