James Webster- better than Arsene Wenger!*

On Bank Holiday Monday Brightlingsea Regent manager James marked his 400th match in charge at the Taydal Stadium. We caught up with him to reminisce!

The world of the football manager is not renowned for offering enormous job security. However, just occasionally, an individual comes along and removes the revolving door, bringing success and stability to their club. James Webster is one such manager, and on Bank Holiday Monday he celebrated his four hundredth match in charge of Bostik Premier Division Brightlingsea Regent with his two hundred and thirty sixth victory- on this occasion over local rivals Needham Market. That's a win ratio that makes James even more successful than Arsenal Wenger!

“What? Arsene Wenger? I’m not sure that’s a fair comparison, although he isn’t having a great time of it this year! It seems no time at all since I was marking three hundred games, and this just seemed to sneak up on us. It was only on Sunday night when the club statistician pointed out that the following day would be four hundred, so we haven’t really done anything to celebrate- and anyway, I’ve been too busy. Perhaps we might get time to relax after the FA Cup match next weekend.”

In seven years at Regent James has won four promotions, and although the first season at Step Three started a little tentatively, with a draw and two defeats, things have perked up markedly over the weekend with two victories taking the club up to thirteenth place. Speaking in July, James explained that given Brightlingsea were about to step into the unknown the target was just to stay up. Five games in, has that changed?

“Not for one minute. This is a difficult league, and fine margins will always be the order of the day. I was delighted that we got our first three points on Saturday, and to beat a really good Hendon side, although it could have gone either way. The same against Needham; it was a really hard-fought game despite the margin of victory.

Hopefully it will give us some confidence now. The boys should believe in themselves, believe that they are able to compete at this level. They’re proving it.”

Asked for a highlight from the last seven seasons, James needed no prompting.

“Last season- the day we won the North Division. To see the joy on the supporters faces, the chairman- the positive impact that you can have just by playing football, it was a massive day for us and one that I’ll never forget.

I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved here,” he went on. “It’s a long time to be at one club and yesterday was a really good way to mark the occasion, with a decent victory against a very good Needham Market side. I hope to be here as long as I can, and I’m really enjoying the challenge.”

Jose Mourinho has managed to win 55% of his games as manager of Manchester United. James Webster currently stands 4% ahead. But which is better?

Perhaps an FA Cup victory on Saturday might get us one step closer to finding out!

*before Arsenal fans everywhere start sending messages or complaining on Arsenal Fan TV, that was a joke!

Where next?

Wheeler to join Super-Hoops? Former Lewes and Staines Town man set to sign for QPR
The Bostik League Show- Episode 5 The Back Of The Net Team bring you all the thrills and spills of Bank Holiday Monday

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