Staunton to meet with board

15 December 2009 09:37
STEVE STAUNTON will meet the Darlington board this afternoon but the manager's position at the club is not on the agenda.[LNB] Quakers have conceded 19 goals in their last five games leading some supporters to question whether the former Republic of Ireland boss is still the right man to turn around their team's woeful season.[LNB] Staunton will sit down with Raj Singh, the Darlington chairman and managing director Graham Fordy for their scheduled weekly meeting today when the team's run of dreadful results will be discussed. But the manager and his assistant Kevin Richardson continue to enjoy the support of the club's hierarchy and unless Singh or Fordy have a dramatic change of heart Staunton is expected to remain in the hotseat for the foreseeable future.[LNB] Saturday's 5-0 defeat at Torquay was the sixth consecutive away loss in the league, suggesting that Darlington are on an inexorable slide towards playing in the Blue Square Premier next season.[LNB] Since taking charge at The Northern Echo Arena on October 5 Staunton has taken only six points from a possible 33 leaving Quakers 11 points adrift of safety.[LNB] In mitigation the manager can point to the weakness of the squad he inherited from Colin Todd and the lack of funds available to recruit players possessing proven League Two pedigree.[LNB] But Staunton has insisted repeatedly that won't make any excuses when results don't got to plan and that he was well aware of the scale of the challenge when he agreed to become boss.[LNB] Injuries to Andrew Milne, who is expected to return to Leeds United for treatment on his ankle, and Mark Bower adds to the mounting problems facing the manager.[LNB] Club captain Steve Foster remains sidelined following his contract dispute and Ian Miller is struggling to recover from a hamstring strain.[LNB] Visitors to www.thenorthernecho.[LNB] co.uk/sport were asked should Steve Staunton stand down as Darlington manager 81% said yes while 19% responded no.[LNB]

Source: Northern_Echo