Dover Athletic defender Steven Watt has praised departed boss Nicky Forster’s “professional” managerial style while at the Kent-based club.
Although not enjoying much playing time under Forster, Watt was impressed with the manner in which the former Reading man ran things at the Crabble.
Watt also believes the tweaks Forster made to the Whites while in charge went a long way to improving the club.
“The changes Nicky made since he came in have been huge – it’s been like night and da,” Watt told This is Kent.
“Everything, down to the littlest things, was so professional and it changed a lot from when I first got here. He had it run as a professional club.”
“There was a lot more togetherness. Before he got here, people were coming out in dribs and drabs in the warm-ups before the game. He got everyone going out together.
“You can’t come out halfway through a warm-up, that’s not right.
“Coming out the full-time game, he knew how important it was to get things done right. You might not think it makes a difference but pros coming into the non-league game notice things like that – it does matter.
“He got a nutritionist in too which was a big help – credit to Nicky, the chairman and the board for allowing him to introduce that and supporting him through it. They got fully behind him.”
Forster has since been put on leave by Dover and replaced by Chris Kinnear after a string of poor results that saw the Whites fall behind in the Blue Square Bet South title race.
Despite holding Forster in such high regard, Watt can understand why the club’s hierarchy decided to suspend the 39-year-old, although his looking forward to linking up with Kinnear.
Watt added: “I enjoyed working with Nicky but football is all about expectations. I can see why the board have made the decision.”
“I know little bits about Chris but non-league football is still pretty new to me.
“I’m looking forward to working with him. He’s done a good job at Margate [FC] and when we played them they were a very good side, very organised and very resilient which is important at this level.”
Posted: Monday , January 21, 2013