Dulwich Hamlet are searching for another manager this season after the club confirmed Paul Barnes had left his post.
Barnes, who took over from Gavin Rose on a caretaker basis last September before being appointed permanent manager the following month, saw his side lose their ninth National League South game in their last ten, after a 2-0 defeat at relegation rivals Hampton & Richmond Borough last weekend. Dulwich have picked up just one point from the last 30 available and are two points above the drop zone.
Barnes’s first game was a 2-1 win against Margate in the FA Cup. He was in charge for 31 games, winning eleven, drawing three and losing seventeen.
Barnes revealed he had some strong words for his squad after the weekend’s defeat, their fifth in a row, and was asked about the reaction of some supporters.
“I can understand frustration [from the fans] and I’ll always have a conversation. I had a conversation today with a few fans,” Barnes told Dulwich’s media.
“People have to have context and know what the score is. People questioned about certain people coming in [on transfers]. I think if people are kind of having an informed opinion it’s fine, but we want people to make sure it is informed. That’s the frustration, do people actually know the circumstances?
“Players have to take responsibility. I’ll take responsibility, I’m not trying to shift it onto the players. But players have got to take responsibility in terms of what we’re producing and what you expect for a certain level of wage that people are on at this club, we’re not delivering.
“Ultimately it’s my job to get a tune out of them. And I said to the group of fans at the end, you saw what we did in December, we got a tune out of them. Then all of a sudden we get to this point of the year and we do know, I’m not being funny, people don’t know how football works, it’ll be this time of the year when there will be other managers ringing them up, they’ll start thinking about their next pay check and they won’t care.
“So we need to find out who are the ones that actually care about Dulwich Hamlet Football Club and want to be here and want to help the club maintain its status. Or the ones that are just thinking about their next pay check.
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“And for me, I just said it in the changing room, that’s what I need to try to filter out because people can fool you because they want to get away with being paid for the rest of the season. I happily said if anyone doesn’t want to be here I will go to the board and I will say we’ve got this player that, hand on heart, couldn’t care. Can we move him on, can we find a solution? Because we don’t need those types of people. We need people who are going to roll their sleeves up, be switched on for the 95 minutes every week, come into work and try to affect it. Come up with solutions.
“We need characters and we need people who want to be here for the club.”
The club confirmed the latest managerial change on Wednesday: “Dulwich Hamlet Football Club can confirm that Paul Barnes has departed his position as the men’s first-team manager following lengthy discussions about the current direction of the team’s fortunes and the longer-term projects at the club.
“Paul joined the club in September 2022 and was instrumental in stabilising the club in the National League South during a difficult transition period following the departure of the previous management team.
“We would like to thank Paul and his backroom staff for their efforts during their time with the club and will remember with admiration the turnaround in results and the unbeaten run throughout December and early January under Paul and his staff.
“We hope to revisit the original discussions with Paul about the longer-term development of the club both on and off the pitch that first attracted us to working with him and hope that all fans join us in recognising the contribution of Paul stepping up and placing those original plans on hold to address the immediate priorities of the first team finding themselves in the relegation positions.
“The process of appointing a new manager of the men’s first team is under way and we will continue to keep supporters up to date throughout the coming days.”
Barnes posted a tweet after the news, saying: “I hope I represented your club with honour, integrity and humility.”
https://twitter.com/Barnsey299/status/1630961202569306115?s=20
Photo: @robavis
