Colbourne pleads for Bush to stay loyal (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Colbourne pleads for Bush to stay loyal

TOBY Colbourne believes Colin Bush has unfinished business at Corsham Town and is confident he will remain the manager at the Southbank at least until the end of the season.

Bush is being strongly tipped to succeed the departed Andy Black as boss at Toolstation League Premier Division leaders Frome Town, but Colbourne insists there is still work for Bush to do at his present club.

While Bush is remaining tightlipped on the subject, Corsham striker Colbourne admitted losing him to Badgers Hill would be a "big blow" for the club but said his gut feeling was his manager would stay loyal.

He said: "Colin has turned the fortunes of Corsham around in the past two years he has been here.

"He is a very astute manager who always knows what he is talking about.

"I am confident he will stay. I have tried to talk to him about it and I have got as much out of him as anyone else, nothing, but I believe he is a very loyal man who will still believe he has a job to finish here.

"After all the work he has done in making Corsham one of the top clubs in the Toolstation League I think he will want to stay to see all his work come to fruition.

"He will want to prove last season was no fluke and that we are real title contenders."

In his two-and-a-bit seasons in charge at the Southbank, Bush has led Corsham into the Premier Division for the first time in their history and guided them to runners-up spot last season.

He also oversaw a Wiltshire Senior Cup triumph last season and as far as Colbourne is concerned there is no better manager around.

He said: "He is certainly up there as one of the top managers in the county. I have been lucky to play under a few decent managers but I would have to say Colin is probably the best.

"It is his man management skills that stick out for me.

"He knows how to get the best out of all his players and none of us want to see him leave."

Colbourne will spearhead Corsham's attack at home to Welton tomorrow as his side look to put a frustrating run of draws behind them and start catching up the nine point advantage the leading sides have gained.

He said: "We have got to start winning. We have had too many draws so far and while we have played quite well it has allowed the other sides to break away a bit. We have games in hand though so we are not panicking just yet.

"Three points is a big priority on Saturday and we also need to start scoring goals again. We are struggling to come by them at the moment and we just have to be more ruthless when the chances come our way.

"The pressure is now on, our last match against Willand was probably our best performance of the season and we need to replicate that on Saturday."

Corsham's hunt for a new chairman goes on after former Chippenham Town chief Malcolm Lyus turned down an offer to fill the void left by the departure of Colin Hudd.

Lyus said: "I am very disappointed I had to say no.

"My heart was saying one thing and my head was saying another I desperately wanted to do it but it was just not practical. I went away for a week to think about and it is all we talked about.

"In the end we decided I was so busy with work that I could not give the role my full attention."