Solihull Moors Appoint New Manager

By David Richardson

Solihull Moors have appointed Mark Yates as manager with Tim Flowers in support to try and guide the club away from relegation.

Yates has played over 600 games in a career spanning 16 years, starting at Birmingham City before moving onto Burnley, Doncaster Rovers, Cheltenham Town and Kidderminster Harriers.

After a season coaching at Burnley it was with Harriers where he took his first management role, guiding them away from relegation in the National League and the following season taking them to Wembley in the FA Trophy.

He took over at Cheltenham Town at the end of 2009 and steered the club away from relegation in League Two. By the end of the 2011/12 season he had guided the Robins to the play-off final, a feat he repeated the following campaign.

Yates took over at Crawley Town in 2015 following the club’s relegation from League One and against a back cloth of changes of ownership and limited funds, stabilised the club.

Yates said: “This is an exciting appointment and it is great to be back doing what I do best! Both Tim and I know that we need points to turn the season around, starting at Maidstone which is going to be tough.

"We need to get our ideas across to the players quickly and we need to give direction and importantly, hope. I am raring to meet the squad at training tomorrow night."

Former goalkeeper Flowers was at Wolverhampton Wanderers before joining Southampton for seven seasons and then spending six with Blackburn Rovers, signing for £2.4 million, enough to make him the most expensive goalkeeper in the country at the time.

He was a key member of the Rovers team that came second in the Premier league in his first season and then won the title in 1994/5. Flowers was capped 11 times for England and hung up his boots in 2003.

Since then he has been the goalkeeping Coach at Leicester City, Manchester City, Northampton Town, Nottingham Forest and most recently at Fulham. He has also been assistant manager at Coventry, Queens Park Rangers, Hull and Kidderminster and had a spell as manager at Stafford Rangers.

Flowers added: “19 games into the season and our position is tough. Nevertheless, we both have experience dealing with situations just like this and we need to instil confidence in the players.

"I have watched several of the matches and most have been “nip and tuck”. The games have been tight, but it requires a monumental effort to change things around.

"I know results have hurt everyone associated with the club, but we need to up our work ethic and provide even more discipline tactically."

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