The news that manager John Davison and his assistant Peter King have left Burscough and taken up appointments at St Helens Town have come as a massive shock to everyone and I must admit to being absolutely gutted when they told us following the game at Hyde United on Monday.  However, we will not be rushed into making an appointment and it might well be the close season before we make a final decision.  We have had only two managers in the past 11 years and we want to try and sustain the kind of success and stability we have enjoyed during that period.  John Davison and Peter King have achieved great things for the club and replacing them will be a formidable task.  For the moment, first team management and team selection will be in the hands of the club's senior professionals under skipper Ged Nolan.
    We have to choose more carefully than most.  We have a very special set-up at Burscough and we treat youth development seriously as it is very much the future of a club with our limited resources.  Whoever manages the first team will also manage the whole playing side of the club and they will be expected to take a full part in liaising and meeting regularly with their reserve and youth team staff in order to ensure the properly monitored progress of potential first team players through the club.  We also place great importance on good contacts in local football and a need to further expand the scouting network currently in place at the club.
    Finally I would like to thank John and Peter for all they have done for this football club. Only they will know their full reasons for deciding to move on.  Certainly I hope I am not betraying a confidence in saying that John told us that he believed he had taken this club as far as he can.  Finance was obviously an issue and it was unlikely to get any better next season while St Helens Town do appear to have considerable financial backing from the consortium that runs the club and the Rugby League club.  The offer was there from St Helens and presumably a decision had to be made.
    We are disappointed that it has all happened so suddenly but there is no animosity between us - too many good things have happened over the past seven years for that and we wish them the very best of luck.  Their achievements at this club have been little short of incredible and their departure now places an awesome responsibility on us to ensure that what has been built remains intact.

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