All Wasn’t As It Seemed With Steve Burr And Forest Green

THE SECRET NON-LEAGUE FOOTBALLER makes his debut for The Non-League Paper

MUCH has been said and written this week about the decision of manager Steve Burr to turn down the advances of Forest Green to remain with Kidderminster Harriers.

Tales from the dressing room are rife, as they always are on the Non-League circuit, and it would appear that all is not as it might have seemed. “I just got the feeling that it wasn’t for me,” Burr claimed.

I gather, on the contrary to the public perception Burr is hoping for, that the talks between himself and Dale Vince, the Rovers chairman, did not even get as far as an offer being made. Their discussions didn’t quite materialise as they both would have liked. Far from it being an act of loyalty to Kidderminster, it was more a case of not getting the job.

Burr was initially approached last week and given permission to talk to Rovers. You can’t fault him for wanting to, as we all know that their player budget is massive and he knew this was a chance for him to put himself in a far better financial position.

After all, anyone else in his or her field of work would jump at it, like a dog at a rabbit. Burr is an experienced man; he has been in Non-League for a long time and is unlucky not to be managing at a higher level.

Through their various official statements, Kiddy informed the masses of the process. I’m not so sure that this was the best decision from a club who lie second in the Skrill Premier and who have the best manager at Non-League level.

Naturally, this will cause unrest within the camp. In the past, Burr has demonstrated huge loyalty, when Kidderminster could have gone under due to financial hardship.

Perhaps not being offered the job, and wages, he had hoped for will turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

Jumping ship to a club which has failed miserably this season and facing a tough challenge to turn around their campaign would not have been easy.

Waiting for a bigger club with Football League status might be a move more in the right direction, a move that would be thoroughly deserved for Burr.

His success with Kiddy in recent years has come despite a tight budget and they were desperately unlucky not to secure automatic promotion last season. He can still achieve that with them this term.

The meeting that Burr would have held with his players and staff when he walked back through the doors at Aggborough would have been a tad embarrassing. I’ve heard it was very uncomfortable for Burr as he tried to regain the faith and support of the squad.

I’ve heard many good things about him and his work with the England C squad has given him a good name.

I’m sure he will now have reinvigorated his team and, undoubtedly, he still has the fire in his belly.

The Kiddy fans must now get behind Burr. All that he has achieved for the club, and his loyalty shown in the past, should  not be overshadowed by this blip.