Accrington Stanley chairman Eric Whalley will be hoping it is seventh time lucky with the appointment of former Burnley star Billy Rodaway as the club's new manager, writes ANDY NEILD.

Rodaway finally made the step up to bride from bridesmaid when he accepted the offer to become the seventh manager at the Crown Ground this season.

Tony Greenwood, Leighton James, Jim McCluskie (twice), Dave Hamilton and Steve Haw have all occupied what has been a ducking stool rather than a hotseat.

But Rodaway remains undaunted and cannot wait to get started in what will be his first managerial post.

"I am really delighted to be taking charge at Accrington Stanley," said Rodaway.

"I only met Eric Whalley for the first time on Tuesday but I was impressed with what he had to say.

"He has a lot of ambition and he seems to have the same enthusiasm, passion and commitment for the game as I have.

"We had a good, frank, open discussion for about an hour and he told me where he wanted the club to go. And when he put his cards on the table I was delighted to be given my first chance as a manager after being an assistant all over the place."

As a player Rodaway started off at Burnley before moving on to Peterborough, Blackpool and Tranmere before ending his playing days back at Turf Moor in 1987.

Since then he has served his apprenticeship as a coach at Peterborough and Tranmere before moving into the semi-professional game.

On the non-league circuit he has enjoyed spells as an assistant manager and coach at Colne Dynamoes, Morecambe, Runcorn, Halifax and latterly Altrincham. But it was the potential at Accrington which spurred Rodaway to throw his hat into the ring when the latest vacancy came up.

"I made a couple of inquiries through people involved with Accrington Stanley when the job came up. The club does have a lot of potential but over the last 15 to 18 months they have not done well as everyone knows.

"I am realistic enough to know that you cannot turn a club around within a year so Iam not going to start saying we will be in the Conference this time next year.

"But I am going to give it my best shot and I am just looking forward to getting a reasonable squad together."

Just who will stay and who will go and what resources will be made available for bringing new men in has not yet been made clear. But Rodaway has already got several established non-league names already in mind with a view to next season.

"We have not talked about money yet but me and Eric will sit down sometime next week and have a good meeting and decide who to release and who to keep.

"It would be silly to make wholesale changes at this stage.

"But I have got certain players in mind who I would like to bring down but I am not prepared to name names at the moment.

"What I will say is that they are reputable non-league players. Ideally, I would like to pick 11 or 12 Billy Rodaway's or Eric Whalley's because with that passion we wouldn't be far away." Steve Haw will remain in charge for the Reds final match of the season at Winsford tomorrow.

But it will provide Rodaway with an opportunity to cast his eye over his new squad for the first time before being officially in troduced after the game.

"In an ideal world I would have liked two or three weeks to have a proper look at things.

"But I do know four or five of the present squad because I have come up against them twice this season while I was at Altrincham."

With the possible creation of a Conference Second Division starting to loom large on the horizon the need for Stanley to get their house in order quickly has been never more apparent.

But Rodaway has not been given any targets.

"I have not been given any ultimatums by the club.

"I am just looking to next season and at the end of that we'll sit down and have another look at it."

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