FOLLAND Sports are closing in on a new manager.

The Sydenhams One club have whittled their shortlist down to three and hope to make an announcement over the weekend.

The new appointment can’t come quickly enough judging by last  night's painful capitulation at table-topping Laverstock & Ford, where the Planemakers were thumped 9-0 in Sydenhams One.

Clubmen Bradley Hartill, Jason Simmonds and Martin Coe are looking after things on a temporary basis, but none of them is interested in the job long-term.

“We’ve been thinking of a joint managers’ role, but I don’t know if the two main candidates would work together. If not, we would have to choose one,” said chairman Roy Kingdon.

“We’ve lost all our Portsmouth-based players since (former bosses) Bjay Green and Richard Elmes went, but the only one I’m upset to lose is James Franklyn. The others didn’t really perform.

“I said to the players at the beginning of the season ‘don’t sign unless you’re committed’ but it seemed to go in one ear and out the other.

“We need more commitment from our team and we need to start learning how to defend.

“During my whole tenure as chairman, we’ve been leaking an average of three goals a game and that’s not good enough.

“Everyone’s got to roll their sleeves up and fight our way up the table.

“The individual talent pool is there, but it’s getting them to work as a team.

“We haven’t had that team spirit for the best part of my chairmanship and he who can get us to work together is a kingmaker.”

Laverstock ran riot last night with Lewis Wykes (2), Rob Gallagher (2), Ben Rankin (2), James Clifton, Olly Hoare and Scott Donaldson piling on the agony for the Planemakers.

Follands travel to Ringwood Town on Saturday rooted to the bottom of the table with just two points from nine games.