Football: United Manager Sacked After Cup Defeat
HUGH SULLIVAN
Danny Bloor, appointed as Hastings United manager on a two-year contract from last May, has been dismissed. On 26 October the team were defeated 4-3 in an FA Trophy tie at Hadley, the winning goal coming in the 87th minute from a penalty. Twenty-four hours later, according to Bloor, he received a call “out of the blue” from club director Ben White informing him that his five-month stint at the helm was over.
The club put out a formal statement : “We have mutually agreed to part company [with Bloor] with immediate effect. The club wishes Danny all the best for the future and would like to thank him for all of his hard work and dedication… Sean Ray and Bobbi Deegan [current assistant manager and first team coach] will take temporary charge of first team affairs until further notice.”
Bloor had told HIP in an interview only five days before that his relationship with the club’s board was “absolutely superb” and that “they give me full backing”. He had also praised Hastings fans as “great – the best in Sussex”. The feeling doesn’t seem to have been reciprocated.
Chris Laverick, long-time ‘U’s fan and podcaster on Sussex non-league football channel Sussex By The Sea, said: “Hastings is a big passionate fan base, and not one of them was surprised by Bloor’s departure”.
Laverick has no inside knowledge of the management of the club, but feels that Bloor had “lost the dressing room” and that players looked “under-drilled and under-coached”. League statistics show that only two sides (out of 22) have scored less than Hastings’ total of 12 goals in 11 matches this season. The podcaster is, however, more critical of the team’s defensive set-up. “We were far too open as a side: it was a case of when and not if anyone we’ve played this season had a gilt edge chance; if not for [goalkeeper] Louis Rogers, our precarious situation would be worse than it is.”
‘SOME HEADS WILL ROLL’
Bloor’s managerial tenure certainly had its ups and downs. The season began with two league wins and FA Cup advancement but then went into reverse. After a cup defeat at Cray in September, Bloor had blamed his team’s attitude, warning that ”some heads will roll and some players won’t be playing for Hastings United any longer”. However, the line-up for the following match against Chatham Town showed none of them omitted, save for a substitute Tyrese Briscoe (who did subsequently depart).
Against Chatham, long-time fan favourite Sam Cruttwell was brought in to shore up the defence despite being still clearly unfit after spending early season on the side-lines with a knee injury. Cruttwell played superbly (in what has turned out to be United’s only league victory since August), but with obviously increasing discomfort: he hobbled off late in the game and has failed to regain fitness since.
Bloor signed two new recruits last month who share past connections with Hastings – striker Callum Barlow and defender Finn O’Mara. He described Barlow, a former product of the United Academy, as “an old-fashioned centre forward, six foot four, scored a lot of goals for Eastbourne United last season … He should be able to hold the ball up front and take some pressure off Davide Rodari.” O’Mara, who was in Gary Elphick’s league-winning team of 2022, should slot into central defence enabling Jack Dixon to push forward into his more accustomed midfield role.
Ironically, Barlow was ‘cup-tied’, and thus not eligible to play in the game at Hadley. So it remains to be seen whether this last throw of Bloor’s dice will prove a productive one for the ‘U’s as they renew their season under fresh management.
So what should happen now? “The club has a tough ask to get the right appointment in,” Laverick says. “Bloor’s appointment had the feeling of being rushed, and it didn’t take long for the wheels to come off … Let’s not do that again.”
The ‘U’s had no game last Saturday – their scheduled opponents Horsham were playing in the First Round of the FA Cup – but were due to host Whitehawk on Tuesday (after this newspaper went to press), then travel to Wingate & Finchley tomorrow (Saturday).
ISTHMIAN PREMIER LEAGUE
(Bottom five as at 3 November)
| P | W | D | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
| 18 | Cray Wanderers | 12 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 17 | -6 | 12 |
| 19 | Hastings United | 11 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 19 | -7 | 12 |
| 20 | Whitehawk | 12 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 19 | -9 | 12 |
| 21 | Hashtag United | 11 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 23 | -7 | 10 |
| 22 | Bognor Regis Town | 12 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 26 | -11 | 8 |
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