Whitehawk appoint Richard Hill after parting company with Pablo Asensio

WHITEHAWK have turned to ex-Eastleigh boss Richard Hill as their new manager after parting company with Pablo Asensio on Friday.

The Hawks were one of the pre-season favourites in the National League South but they’ve endured a slow start to the campaign, picking up just one win from their opening eight games.

They had scored just six times in those matches and the East Sussex club’s board took action a day before Saturday’s visit of high-flying Chelmsford City.

Asensio, who served as assistant manager, stepped up to take the reins in February after Steve King’s departure and he was named permanent boss in May.

His appointment coincided with a fantastic run of form that took the Hawks from the edge of the relegation zone into the play-offs, where they were beaten on penalties in the semi-finals by Ebbsfleet.

Replacing the Argentinian is the experienced Hill, who has been out of the game for almost a year after leaving Eastleigh last September.

During his time in charge of the Spitfires, he guided the club to the Conference South title in 2013-14 before an impressive fourth-place finish in Non-League’s top tier the season after, losing to Grimsby in the play-offs.

He is now tasked with turning Whitehawk’s fortunes around and club president Chris Gargan said: “We thank Pablo for his services during his short tenure but the direction we were going in has not quite worked out with one win in the first eight games.”