Greene Shoots: the St Neots manager talks about Steve Lomas

IT was great to see my predecessor Steve Lomas get the St Johnstone job last week – they’ve made a good choice up there in Scotland.

I wasn’t surprised to see him linked with such a high-profile job, St Johnstone are in the Scottish Premier League and if Steve does well there he could find himself being touted for one of those two ‘big’ Scottish jobs – you know, the ones that come up occasionally.

Certainly, if you do well in that division, you put yourself in the frame for jobs in the Championship in England – and even the Premiership, so it’s a great move for him. Well done Steve. I shall be keeping an eye on your results up there.

Of course, it was Steve who brought me to St Neots. We knew each other from us both being around football – and he was great to work with in the six months that we were together. When he left I was given the manager’s job at St Neots; and the rest, as they say, is history…

There was no mystery as to why Steve left: quite simply he wanted to find himself a job in the Football League and wasn’t getting to see enough of that standard of football to suit his ambition.

He is an excellent coach and took his role very seriously – he made sure he got all of his badges and was ready to move on when he did.

If you want to be seriously considered for teams at that level, you have to know it inside out. You need to go to games, be seen at games, and learn about the players. That’s what he did.

I’m ambitious as well, of course – but I have to say I am the happiest I have ever been in football here. I have a great relationship with the chairman and things are going really well. My ambition is to climb the divisions, yes; but with St Neots, to take this club forward, hopefully all the way to the Conference. I have experience of the Conference, I played for Wycombe Wanderers when they won the FA Trophy and were promoted to the Football League.

My manager then was Martin O’Neill. That’s one good reason why I’m doing so well here.