Chris Moyses says he would like to stay involved with Lincoln City, possibly as Director of Football, when he steps down from his role as manager at the end of the season.
The Imps announced his decision to leave at the end of the season in a club statement on Tuesday. In the statement, Moyses said managing a football club as well as running his own business was too much and not sustainable.
“I’d been thinking about leaving for the last month. It’s been tough.” the City manager said at his press conference this morning. “The tougher things get the harder you work to make things right and I was working ever so hard to make sure things were okay. “
“I’ve always had the best interests of the club at heart and it was taking too much out of me.”
However, Moyses insisted he would like to stay at the club in a ‘lesser capacity’.
“The chairman has intimated to me that there might be a role there for me so I’m hoping that’s the case,” he said.
“I’d like a role that liases between the playing side and the boardroom side. A Director of Football role has been muted.”
Meanwhile, the search for a new manager has already begun and Moyses gave his opinion on what the club should look for in his replacement.
“I’d like to have somebody who’s of similar ilk and is very good with the players because they are a great group of players,” he explained.
“The new manager need to have the best intentions of Lincoln City at heart. You don’t want to do all this hard work and then have it taken away by someone who hasn’t got the right credentials.”
“Its a progression now, ” Moyses continued. “There’s plenty of knowledge about the club – about how things should be done on and off the pitch. Someone with some fresh ideas about how they could adapt that would be good.”
When Moyses came in to replace Gary Simpson in November 2014, he found the club languishing in mid-table mediocrity.
Although on the face of it not much has changed with regards to the team’s league position, the motto ‘Team Lincoln’ has been the mantra for the Imps this season and Moyses made it clear at the start of the campaign that he only wanted players who bought in to his team ethic.
“I’m really proud of what we’ve acheived.” said Moyses. “We’ve got a good club that’s going in the right direction.”
“I must thank all the people that stood by me and supported me. Its not been an easy season although I think we’ve made good strides. There’s a lot more good happening than bad.”
“A lot of the work I’ve done you’ll not see because its all behind closed doors,” he explained.
“You’ve good to have the proper infrastructure and solid base to build from and that’s all there.”
“But the biggest legacy that I’m going to leave is a football team that wants to play for Lincoln City and not for themselves.”
There is no doubt the Imps manager has helped to generate a feel-good factor back at the club. Some of the football his side have played this season has been hailed as the best since they dropped out of the Football League in 2011, despite their poor recent run of form.
And Moyses wants his successor to continue his work, “We’ve got to give back to the people of Lincoln and give them success,” he said.
“The club’s in good shape so lets get it back in the Football League.”