Worcester Raiders joint-manager Jordan Lewis believes he’s beginning to put his ‘stamp’ on the squad as he reflects on a first month in the Sixways dugout.
Lewis, alongside fellow boss Glen Sitch were appointed in late December of last year following the departure of Raiders legend Karl Gormley, who had been in charge for eight years.
Speaking on behalf of the management pair, Lewis says he and Sitch are enjoying life at the helm.
“I’ve enjoyed the step up so far,” Lewis said.
“I know a lot of people questioned it and said it never usually works. Joint management does happen up and down the leagues I think you’ve got to work with somebody you know you can work with well.
“It might not work for some people but with me and Glen, we know our roles. We support each other on things that we need support on.
“You just have to find someone who’s like-minded with you really. We challenge each other and suggest different things but a lot of the time we come to similar conclusions.
“It takes a bit of time but me and Glen are putting our stamp on it now. It’s been good but not without its challenges.”
WHAT A WIN!!
— Worcester Raiders FC (@WorcsRaidersFC) January 27, 2024
Four different scorers 🤌#WeAreRaiders || #UTR⚔️ pic.twitter.com/jcBQwSlRSk
Lewis and Sitch were encouraged by Gormley himself to take over, having joined Gormley’s backroom staff in the summer of 2023.
“It’s a big change.” Lewis admitted.
“When somebody like Karl has been the manager of the club for such a long time, but not just the manager of the club, he brought it from Sunday league to where it is now – it’s huge.
“When anyone thinks of Worcester Raiders they think of him straight away, I certainly did. To take over from him is pretty big, but he wanted us to take over from him.
“We had a chat he knew us from being a coach before, me and Glenn and he asked us if we’d put ourselves forward and it was nice to have that support from Karl.”
Raiders have seen quite the turnover in players since the duo’s arrival, with 10 new players joining the club during their month-long reign.
“When Karl’s been there that long, players are there to play for him which is understandable which happens in every league with every club. When Karl moved on, those players might decide to move on too.
“A change in management might not be for everyone, it’s just a case of rebuilding that squad a little bit. We’d lost a few players to injuries and stuff like that.
“For me and Glenn I think it was a case of finding players that we knew. When we came in we were just outside of the play-offs but we understood it would be a tough six-week period with the change of management.
“The future of players with the younger lads we’d got, they were keen to do things the right way. The squad’s the most important thing, not about me and Glenn, it’s about the squad you put out on a Saturday, and getting that right was important.”
