JOHN Trewick has plenty of good memories to look back on after almost six years at Edgar Street.
But, in retrospect, the former Bulls chief admits that he would have done some things differently during his time as manager.
“I would do lots of things differently, too many to mention,” he said. “But you have to do things as they are at the time, without the benefit of hindsight.
“It was a good experience and I left the club 11 points clear of the relegation places.
“I don’t think I was a failure, I just failed to fulfil the standards that I set myself.
“I was disappointed with the outcome.
“But the only thing that disappoints me is the way I have left – I would like to have left on a high.
“Now, perhaps, I think it would have been good to have left after the club’s second promotion; to have left people thinking I had done a good job.
“But the club is in a decent position and I can’t see the club not staying in the League; I never did.”
While Trewick’s time as manager brought its downs, his five seasons as coach coincided with one of the most successful periods in Hereford’s history.
“In my first season we got to the Conference play-offs and it was a season of progression and success,” he said.
“In my second season, we got promoted through the play-offs and that was a fantastic moment.
“I know how much that meant to everyone at the club and the supporters.
“In our first season back in the League, we got off to a decent start and did reasonably well and then we got automatic promotion the following year.
“To get promoted to League 1 was an extraordinary achievement and I’m disappointed that we did not do ourselves justice.
“But we did have a large slice of fortune go against us – to have to use six goalkeepers was very bad luck.
“This season was always going to be difficult as both Cheltenham and Crewe, who came down with us, have also found.
“And Northampton have only recently begun to find their feet.
“It’s always tough to realign yourselves and stabilise and we got off to a poor start so we were always playing catch up.
“That affects the confidence of players.
“But two promotions in three years was beyond our expectations and dreams.
“It was probably an overachievement and the club is now suffering because of the disappointment at where they are.
“I am not daft enough to think that people’s expectations don’t change but they need to be realistic.”
Trewick has been catching up on “jobs I have been putting off for the last five years” but football is already beginning to seep back into his thoughts.
“The last couple of weeks have been refreshing,” he said. “I didn’t realise how deeply immersed I was and how my whole train of thought was about football and Hereford.
“It’s only when you step aside that you realise it was quite intense.
“But I’m already getting twitchy about football and it won’t be long before I take in a game or two.
“I hope the club continues to keep that gap between them and the relegation zone – when that is done I shall be happy.
“I know how much it meant to everyone getting back into the League and there is no way that I would wish any ill on anyone.”
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