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Salton era ends with memories of what might have been

Thursday, November 22 2007

As Hitchin bade farewell to Darren Salton and welcomed a new man into the manager's role at Top Field, Canaries fans have been looking back on a period of fluctuation at the club.

Salton took over in December 2004, replacing former Chelsea and England striker Kerry Dixon. An untried manager at that time, Salton brought fresh enthusiasm and endeavour to the role. He also displayed a willingness to communicate with the fans in the form of a series of open meetings in which the management could discuss the progress of the playing side of the club. Not once did Salton cancel a meeting, despite inconsistent results.

His first game was at Halesowen Town and an unexpected 3-1 win promised the start of a new era. The Hitchin team that day was: Wilmot, Old, Kidd, Smith, McCulloch, Baldry, Cavill, Hill (Hassan), Hay, Bridge and Hutton.

Victories were few and far between in 2004-05 and the Salton-Gillard axis won five of 23 games in that season and none of their last 11 league fixtures. Ironically, the team lost impetus following the departure of Darran Hay to Kings Lynn in February.

Nevertheless, optimism reigned in the summer of 2005 and a new team was taking shape. By the end of that season, Hitchin had won the Errea Cup and Salton had cajoled the best out of striker Josh Sozzo, who netted over 30 goals in the season.
There was an improvement in the final league placing and although Sozzo left to join Conference-bound St.Albans, Salton pulled off a double coup in the close season of 2006.

Chris Dillon and Grant Carney both joined the club in pre-season and although the latter played less than 15 minutes for Hitchin, Dillon was a major success, scoring freely in the period up to Christmas.

Hitchin went into the holiday period in second place, but a dismal run and the break-up of a talented team, arguably the Canaries best in several years, cast a shadow over the last 10 months of Salton’s time as manager. Dillon, Sozzo – in his second spell – Rob Miller and Daniel French all departed Hitchin and although their replacements were honest brokers, the team lacked the flair and virtuosity of the team built over the previous 12 months.

There was an ill-prepared air about the club in the summer of 2007 and in Ken Gillard’s own words, “it was the worst pre-season we’ve known”. A lack of firepower and a deteriorating disciplinary record contrived to make the first half of 2006-07 a disappointing period, despite a good FA Cup run that ended in the fourth qualifying round.

With the team rooted to the foot of the league table and a worrying goal famine showing no signs of ending, the Board at Hitchin decided to make changes. Salton acted with great dignity when told he was being replaced and typically, one of his first acts was to explain the situation to the supporters. Indeed, the message filtering out of the camp was Salton’s appreciation of the support he had received from the Hitchin regulars. The new man will be looking for a similar level of commitment from the club’s followers.