Heathcote won't walk

3:20pm Tuesday 23rd September 2008

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ALTY boss Graham Heathcote insists his future lies in the board's hands after fans called for his head during Saturday's 1-0 win over Lewes.

But despite mounting pressure for him to quit, Heathcote said he will not walk away from the club he has served for more than 30 years.

Instead, he is determined to stay and turn around the club's on-pitch fortunes, as long as he is given that chance.

He told SAM Sport: "I'm in the board's hands.

"The days of walking away are gone in football, I can't be seen to let a certain group of people be the reason why my departure takes place.

"It will take place when the board thinks it's right and in a structured manner.

"It hurts massively to have fans calling for my head.

"There are bigger things in life though and I have to be man enough to put it into context and deal with it.

"It's wrong that they think they can pay £12 and just dish out abuse to anyone.

"If that happened in anyone else's place of work, the police would be called and the people would be ejected from the premises."

The Robins boss also believes verbal demonstrations of dissent on the terraces are only detrimental to the cause of those fans who want to see him replaced.

And he has called on supporters to get behind the players for tonight's game against Mansfield - if not him.

He said: "If those people are more patient and stay behind the team, my departure would probably only be a matter of time.

"But if they keep on shouting, the club will not want to be seen to bow to that type of pressure.

"We are looking at how we can move this club forward and that doesn't necessarily involve me as manager.

"Whatever tha fans are feeling at the moment they need to double it to understand what I'm feeling. I don't want to be in this situation.

"This team is still capable of going up this league but the problem the players have is they are so tense and worried that if they make a mistake people will be on their backs.

"It's a very difficult situation but now they need to handle it and perform.

"There is no problem in the dressing room though. Saturday's events probably helped them gel even more."