By Sam Elliott
IT'S getting on for 10pm at the back of Woking's rustic wooden stand, the unmistakable scent of Vicks vapour rub creeps through the pores of the aging floorboards from the dressing room beneath. It does on every visit.
Garry Hill is getting into his lyrical stride when we are suddenly plunged into complete darkness.
He's had to get that lightbulb above his head shining brighter than ever this summer, but even floodlight replacement is above his pay grade.
We stand there in pitch black, pretending like nothing's wrong. The right person is being interviewed, here is a man who has turned carrying on as if everyone is perfectly fine into an art form over the past few years.
You see, it really isn't. Woking have endured a tortuous summer which, thanks to yet another budget cut, has seen arguably their five most influential players and a fans' favourite walk away.
To make matters worse, two of them have crossed the Surrey-Hampshire divide. Top scorer Scott Rendell and Jake Cole, the keeper who saved the most shots in the National League last season, left for Aldershot, while captain Mark Ricketts and assist king Bruno Andrade decided prospects were better at Boreham Wood. Alarm bells were ringing.
Much-loved Gez Sole hopes to lead Hampton's attack but at least the exit of John Goddard to Swindon was easier to digest.
Fears were that it was a matter of time before the National League's longest serving boss was being drawn to the Kingfield exit door too.
“I'm still here, but this year I think we have the smallest budget in the league. I don't think there's much doubt about that actually,” said Hill moments before the lights went out from a 2-1 pre-season defeat to AFC Wimbledon.
“It's hard enough as it is in a league full of full-time clubs, but we haven't got the income which makes the difference. The board work very hard but there's no doubt over the past few seasons we have been punching well above our weight – and I don't mean that because I'm the manager!
“People have got to understand that in the last four seasons, only three clubs have finished in the top half every year. Forest Green and Grimsby as you expect, and us. That's a good achievement in my eyes.
“Can we do that again? It's a tall order, no doubt about it. It will be a real challenge but we're always up for a challenge.”
Go back a decade and you would have struggled to have much in the way of sympathy for the 56-year-old.
He could be gruff and awkward at the best of times. A nightmare for officials as well as journalists. But here's a man and a manager transformed.
The Cards boss needed to. If this was Garry Hill of Dagenham or Hornchurch days there's little doubt he would have – to use one of his terms – done a runner.
“I think as a manager you just have to try and be positive, it's a tough time for the club, there's little doubt about that,” he adds after adding five new faces to his squad last week; wingers Nathan Ralph and Aaron Smith-Joseph, strikers Zak Ansah and Chike Kandi and ex-West Ham midfielder Anthony Edgar.
“Yes we have lost of a lot of players and we have had to be sensible with our budget. It's a substantial reduction – we've had to work really hard to get players in and we know it's going to be difficult.
“I'm under contract here and that's where I am. I just get on with it. I enjoy being at the club, I enjoy producing good players. We'll see what comes out of the coming months but it will be a tough old season, maybe the toughest, but we will give it a good go. In 25 years of football I have never been relegated. I don't plan to start now.
“It is disappointing in some ways. You have to be honest with people, the board have been with me. I'm in the last year of my contract so let's see where it goes.”
There's been a changing of the guard this season, chairman Mike Smith stepping away while fan Rosemary Johnson takes his place, steering the ship through troubled waters.
But this was no takeover. They just can't seem to find that fresh investment however hard they look. Talks? There's plenty of those but getting discussions over the line still seems to be a sticking point. It's come home to roost this summer in a big way.
“We haven't got someone who feels comfortable being in the position to financially support us which you see at some other clubs,” Hill added. “What they get and what they've got I try not to get involved in.
“Maybe we look at the turn of the year a couple of times and wonder why we haven't pushed on when we have been very close to the top five, and that's frustrating, of course it is, but I keep getting players here and we get them playing well. We'll go again. It's going to be a testing one, but one we're looking forward to that's for sure.
“I've been here five and a half years – the fourth longest in the country behind Arsene Wenger, Paul Tisdale at Exeter City and Karl Robinson (MK Dons manager) so they tell me. That means something, surely?
“I think the club and the supporters know I'll be loyal. You get a bit older and you become a little bit more sensible. Over the years I have certainly mellowed. Well, I'm getting older now! I'm a lot more level-headed. I've learned a lot and hopefully I'm a better manager than before.”
