Last Saturday, Redditch United announced that their current manager, Tim Flowers, had made the decision to step down from his position in order to join local rivals Alvechurch, less than twenty-four hours before their game against playoff rivals Stamford.
Just two hours before kick-off, they announced the return of fan favourite Matt Clarke.
Clarke had previously managed the Reds from 2020-2024, rejuvenating the struggling side and even pushing them to the playoff positions, before eventually having to step down in May of this year due to a prolonged legal battle over alleged drug-related charges that have since been dropped.
Club Statement | Matt Clarke
— Redditch United (@RedditchUtd) June 22, 2024
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Stepping back into the dugout at the Valley Stadium on short notice for their game against Stamford, Clarke commented on Flowers’ departure and his plans for the season:
“It’s always difficult when a manager goes, there’s that uncertainty from players with a new manager coming in.
“They’re obviously in a good position in the league, and are there for a reason. With us coming in we’re bound to change a couple of things, bring one or two people in, and I think the group needs a little bit of help in terms of personnel, then we can push on in the league.
“I feel like there’s some unfinished business here, so I want to build on what we’ve achieved before and try to push that to even greater heights.”
At the end of his first ninety back in charge, Redditch came out the victors after Alex Cameron scored a dramatic 96th-minute winner, pushing the Reds up to third in the league.
Beating a side high-up in the standings in his first game back, Clarke happily provided his analysis on the performance:
“Oh, it’s fantastic you know, firstly just to be back is brilliant, but to end it with three points against a really good side is the icing on the cake.
“First half was really poor I thought from our point of view, we didn’t get to grips with it and were second best all over the park.
“We spoke at half-time we made a couple of changes to the shape and personnel, and were much better in the second half.”
With the Reds now in the playoff places, Clarke gave an update on how he is going to manage expectations with much of the season still left to play:
“I’ve just come through the door obviously so I’m not gonna set any targets just yet, we’ve just got to look at the fixtures coming up and work our way through the rest of the season.
“The club’s always had a special affinity for me as a player and a manager, so I’m just delighted to be back and work with good people and we can set our goals as we go.”
The Reds’ next game will be against Studley in the Birmingham Senior Cup tonight at 7:45 PM, where Matt Clarke will be hoping to build on his positive start back at the helm.
