KIDDERMINSTER Harriers chairman Rod Brown and chief executive Colin Gordon appeared in an hour long video explaining why head coach Dave Hockaday left the club this week.

The pair also covered a huge range of topics from finances to bringing in a new head coach.

Shuttle sports editor Peter McKinney breaks down the interview into nine key points:

1) Colin Gordon is taking over in short term

The news that chief executive Colin Gordon will take over team affairs in the short term probably will not come as a surprise to Harriers fans who have been keeping an eye on the club this season.

Gordon, who is a qualified FA coach and had been manager of Stourbridge, had three weeks in charge after Gary Whild. He will be assisted by Kevin Phillips and Scott Mason, while there was some suggestion that they may also bring in expert video analysis when needed.

2) Search begins for new head coach

One of the most interesting facets from the video was that chairman Rod Brown admitted that they rushed into the appointment of Dave Hockaday.

He certainly wasn’t the top target that the club had alluded to in September but after nearly a month the club felt they had to make a decision.

Kidderminster now want a new man in the hot-seat by end of season so he can play an important role in the summer.

Brown said: “We’re going to take our time to find a head coach, it’s important to do that. Putting our hands up, maybe we should have taken more time the first time around.

“It’s something we can learn from.

“We need somebody in place by the end of the season but that’s quite a few games away. The phones are ringing all the time but we’ll take our time.”

3) No interference

Gordon was keen to put to bed any rumours that interfered with the running of the team when Hockaday was in charge.

Kidderminster Shuttle:

He also made it very clear he won’t be meddling with any future head coach, which is an important factor when it comes to wooing and hiring whoever will be their top target.

He said: “There is a lot of conjecture about the head coach role. For the matter of record, it doesn’t matter if it was manager of head coach, nobody but nobody selects the team but the person who is responsible for it and that is the head coach.

“The head coach decided what players to bring in, the head coach decided on tactics, head coached decided what the team was. I have not had a say, not at all."

4) Listening

Both Colin Gordon and Rod Brown made it very clear that they listened to the supporters before making a decision about Dave Hockaday’s exit; although they stressed that they could see what the fans could – that it wasn’t working.

But Harriers’ chiefs went to great pains throughout the video to make sure that they will always be transparent and open with the supporters.

That mantra is important because fans have felt ever since Steve Burr’s unexplained departure that they’ve been kept in the dark.

Gordon also made it clear that supporters are entitled to criticise if things aren’t going well.

He said: “Our supporters pay their money and are entitled to criticise through whatever media that want.

“I don’t have a problem with that at all. We need to show them we’re turning things around.

He added later: “Fans have a right to ask us any question they want, whether by email or in the bar after the game. We’ve nothing to hide.”

5) Haven’t given up on survival 

Both men were also surprisingly upbeat about Harriers’ chances of escaping relegation from the Vanarama National League, despite being bottom and 12 points adrift.

They realise it was improbable and that first and foremost performances must improve first.

Gordon said: “We can only assure people we’ll be doing everything we can to put a better product on the pitch that people can enjoy.

"If that produces points and performances then hopefully we can retain our status, if it doesn’t we’ve let people down.

“We want to see an improvement and we felt we weren’t seeing the improvement we hoped to see during the time the previous head coach was at the club.

“We need to accept the frustration of the head coach; it’s a two-way street.

“It is a very difficult job. Historically, Kidderminster are one of the major powers in the league but at the moment financially we’re certainly aren’t and football-wise we certainly aren’t.

“It is a very difficult and frustrating job. We have to understand that the head coach felt it was more than difficult for him to deliver what we wanted, that’s why we reached the decision we did.

“We have to believe we can improve, we have to believe we can escape the problems we are in, we have to believe there’s a brighter and better way.

“Staying up is more than possible; you have to look for inspiration elsewhere. Look at Leicester last year and what they have achieved.”

6) Club’s finances remain difficult but there is light at the end of the tunnel

The chairman and chief executive were at pains to talk about Kidderminster’s financial difficulties.

Not for the first time Gordon seemed to criticise previous regimes and at one point also cryptically hinted at the non-payment of a hotel bill.

The message was clear, things are tough and the current regime is paying for the price for past mistakes.

Rod Brown stressed the excellent work by the likes of Dave Pountney and Helen MacDonald on the commercial side, which has been a huge plus point this campaign.

They reiterated that the club would have a blank slate in terms of money-owed by the end of the season and that there had been a lot of work to get to that stage.

“We’re doing okay, it could be better,” said Gordon when asked how the club is doing money-wise.

“There are a couple of things we are hoping will come off but we’re okay.

“HMRC and VAT are paid on time, you can’t mess about with those. Our bills are being paid, some slower and some quicker.”

The chairman also made the valid point that staff and players have been paid in full and on time each month, unlike what happened last season.

7) Smallest budget

Brown and Gordon both talked about how the wage bill for the squad currently at the club, which excludes players on-loan, is the smallest in the league and below £200,000.

Gordon claimed that in the past and under previous regimes the playing budget had been an unsustainable 80 or 90 per cent of turnover.

Harriers’ chief executive also pledged that in the future any profits the club might make will be invested into the club and team.

He said: “If the club is making massive amounts of profit and we’re not investing the right percentage into the team, then people can question the board and my own reasons for being at the club.

“Hypothetically, if we turnover £3 million next year and we can afford to put in £2 million that will be the budget.

“My motives aren’t to make profits out of Kidderminster Harriers. I want to reinvest in the first team and players coming below and the staff that support those people.

“Fans will be aware of what the formula is and the balance sheets will be a matter of public record. If we do start making good profits from our initiatives that will go into the club and team.”

8) Full-time remains the plan

No matter the division Harriers find themselves in next season, the club’s head men confirmed the club would remain full-time.

While they did not elaborate on how they intend to pay for this in the video, it’s clear that the negotiations with Birmingham Metropolitan College about the academy link-up play an important part in this as the club look to open up new revenue streams.

Does this confidence in keeping Kidderminster’s full-time status suggest talks are progressing well? Only time will tell.

Once again, the focus was on finding and developing young players and Brown and Gordon felt the best way to do that was to stay full-time.

“We remain full-time because it’s the right thing to do. How are you going to develop talent unless you’re working with them every day?” said Harriers chief executive.

“Do you want a 28-year-old builder turning up for training Tuesdays and Thursdays and doing what he does on a Saturday as a hobby?

“Or do you want a professional footballer giving his all to try and progress and benefit him and his club?

We’ll stay full-time, that’s what we are.”

9) Fans-tastic backing

Despite money worries, embarrassing FA Cup and Trophy defeats to lower level derby rivals and just two wins all season, Harriers have still averaged 1,500 at home.

That’s testament to the loyalty of the Kidderminster fans, who have demonstrated patience and restraint during a testing season.

Brown said: “We’ve been bottom of the league almost all season, we’ve only not been bottom once, but we’ve sustained an average fan base of 1,500.

“That is a phenomenal achievement and shows how big the club really is and their passion. We can’t thank them enough.

“Could you imagine if the attendances had dropped by 200 or 300? It would have made our job that much harder.”

Verdict:

An open and frank interview with Harriers’ two main men addressed many areas of concern. It would have won over many fans worried by the club’s league position and poor performances on the pitch.

However, as Gordon and Brown said themselves, "talk is cheap". Unless performances and results improve supporters will continue to be unhappy.