STAND-IN Winchester City boss Mick Catlin hopes to land a job in his own right over the summer.
The former Gosport Borough No2 finishes his three-game stint filling in for absent Citizens manager Ian Saunders at home to third-placed Evesham on Saturday.
Asked if he would be sticking around when Saunders returns from Army duty, Catlin - described by ex-Gosport skipper Sam Pearce as "the glue that held Borough together" - said: “Ideally I’d like to get a manager’s job somewhere.
“I’ve had so many offers to be an assistant, helping managers get players in etc., but that’s their job.
“I’ve done the No2 role, although I was more like a joint manager with Alex (Pike) at Gosport.
“We’ll see what comes up, but it’s not always that easy. I really like the Conference South but there are not that many clubs around locally at that level.
“If I got a job now it’s more than likely going to be with a side struggling to stay up.
“It may take a bit longer to find something. I’ll see what’s around in the summer.”
If there’s one thing this week’s experience with Winchester has taught Catlin, it’s that Southern One South & West travelling is more arduous than the National League (Conference) South.
He got home at 1am after Tuesday’s helter-skelter 3-3 draw at Mangotsfield United.
“It’ll be nice to get a home game tomorrow. I’d forgotten how far the travelling in the South & West is!” he said.
“Since they brought in the Central Division, everything’s been pushed further west. When Gosport were in it, it was a bit more centralised.
"Conference South travelling isn't too bad. Apart from Truro and Margate, it's only an hour or so."
While a point at Mangotsfield was not to be sniffed at, Catlin felt City deserved more.
“We looked quite comfortable at 1-0 (Stuart Green), but then a penalty was given against Robbie Matthews which we didn’t feel was justified and a 35-yard shot wormed its way into the bottom corner for 2-1 at half-time," he said.
“We’ve come out, scored (Craig Feeney) and gone ahead (Andy Jenkinson), but they made a couple of good substitutions and equalised with a cracking half-volley that we could do nothing about.
“Taz Roberts got sent off and we’ve hung on for a point.
“I felt we did enough to win it, but we could have defended a lot better.”
Left-back Danny King didn’t play, having broken his hand in the 2-0 defeat at North Leigh last weekend.
Defender Jamie Ford should be back tomorrow after midweek work commitments and midfielder Danny Smith will hopefully get over a tight hamstring.
"Evesham's another tough game, but I'd like to hand the reins back to Ian with a win," smiled Catlin.
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