SLOUGH Town joint-manager Jon Underwood has hailed Steve Easterbrook as the perfect man to work for after his decision to stand as club Chairman, writes Rob Stevens.

Easterbrook

had made his intentions clear over two years ago but confirmed the news after the final game of this season,

a 3-3 draw at Truro City

on Easter Monday.

It has been a remarkable time for Easterbrook and the Rebels, with the club now in a strong position to move forward having just missed out on the National League South play-offs this year.

Underwood is grateful for the belief shown in him and fellow boss Neil Baker by Easterbrook, but he explained the decision will not effect their preparations for the season.

Underwood told the Observer: “Steve has been brilliant. He gave us the opportunity six years ago now and we’re grateful for his belief in us.

“He revealed to us recently that he was never a fan of joint-managers but agreed to interview us. It has gone pretty well since so hopefully we’ve changed his mind on that.

“Steve is a great man and the perfect Chairman to work for because he’s incredibly supportive but, at the same time, lets us get on with the job.”

“Even when things are not going well, he never puts pressure on us and we’re grateful for that.”

He added: “There’s no real rush to find a new Chairman. In fact, John Porter has stepped up to be a caretaker in that position for the short term.

“There will not be any changes in terms of how we plan for next season, but it’s an open door for a person or party to come on board.

“There’s a little bit of uncertainty for us as managers. It would be great if there could be someone like Steve, or it might be someone with different ideas on who they want to manage their club.

“We know that Steve wouldn’t hand over the reigns to anyone that didn’t have the club’s interests at heart and could not push the club forward.”

Underwood is confident that the majority of the current squad, which finished in mid-table in Slough’s first season back in the National League South, will stay at Arbour Park.

He has however acknowledged there are areas for improvement if the Rebels are to challenge for the play-offs again, with specific targets already identified.

Underwood explained: “We’re not far away but are going to need to improve because the league will be stronger net season looking at the teams that will be in it.

“It’s business as usual for us this summer. We know what we need to do to improve and we’ve been given a license to do that.

“There will not be an overhaul in terms of the squad but we have identified a couple of areas to improve on and we’ve specific targets in mind to see if we can do that.

“We’ve already spoken with the whole of the current squad and there were some very positive conversations had. We expect to keep the vast majority of the team.

“We lost big players throughout the season so there’s space to bring in a few. We have two specific targets in mind and we hope to progress with those this week.”