ALAN Walker-Harris feels it is crucial that those responsible for choosing the next Dorchester Town manager do not rush their decision.

The Magpies’ keeper reckons the club would be making a mistake if they brought someone in too early at the risk of potentially missing out on the right man for the job.

Stuart Heath took charge of the team for Saturday’s draw with Chesham and has said he is happy to continue as caretaker-boss while Phil Simkin’s replacement is found.

And Walker-Harris is confident that with Heath and the likes of experienced Nick Crittenden around then the squad can cope in the short term.

“I don’t feel there is any rush to get someone in,” he said. “It’s imperative that the club gets the right person, and if that takes time then so be it.

“It would be a mistake to rush into it just so that the club has a new manager.

“For the time being we’ve got Stuart and Nick, who have bags of experience we can tap into.

“We’ve got a good group of players and if we get the right person in we can push on and move forward.”

And when asked what qualities the new manager should have, he continued: “We need someone who is going to be a leader, someone who is going to have us organised.”

Walker-Harris was a mainstay of the Dorchester squad during Simkin’s reign, which came to an end last Wednesday.

The county town stopper understands why he had to go following comments made about the supporters after the derby, but he still has a lot of respect for his former manager.

“Phil had his reasons for saying what he said and he stood by what he said,” he added. “You have to respect him for doing that but only one thing was going to happen.

“The fans pay their money to watch us play and if they are not happy then they can say that.

“You know what you are going to get with Phil and he was massively committed to a job he always wanted.

“Me and Phil had a working respect for each other.

“We never always saw eye to eye, like a lot of people who work together, but he showed me great respect in phoning me the night he got sacked.

“I was a bit taken aback that he felt he needed to phone me – it was a nice touch.

“I think the players have taken it in their stride, it’s part and parcel of football.

“Managers come and go but you don’t ever get used to it.

“It’s always a sombre moment when a manager goes but you’ve always got a game around the corner to focus your attention.”

* Dorchester Town Reserves host Petersfield Town in the Wyvern League Premier Division tomorrow night (7.45pm).