FOLLOWING the dismissal of manager Paul Joynes, Tilbury have given charge of the team on a caretaker basis to widely travelled defender Garry Kimble who will work with the club's commercial manager Neil Speight.
38-year-old Kimble, started his career with Charlton Athletic and his league career included spells at Cambridge United, Doncaster Rovers, Gillingham and Peterborough United.
It was at Peterborough that he enjoyed his career highlight, scoring the giant-killing goal that knocked Liverpool out of the League Cup.
Looking back on that night he said: "It was a thrill just to be on the same field as those Liverpool players, so to score the only goal of the game was just a dream come true.
"Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar went up for a cross, but missed it and the ball landed right at my feet. I just concentrated on keeping the ball down, but when I saw it in the back of the net I just took off - I'd still be running now if the other players hadn't caught me!
"I was released by Posh at the end of that season, but I didn't bear any grudges as they'd given me my best night in football."
Since dropping out of the league Kimble has gained lots of experience of the local non-league scene that he hopes to put to good use at Tilbury. He has had three spells at Dagenham and also played for Purfleet, Grays Athletic, Chelmsford City, Canvey Island, Braintree Town and Harlow Town.
His first game in charge will be against Harlow and he is already looking forward to the challenge.
"It is a great shame that things didn't work out for Paul and all the players know that they have let him down with their performances but things move on and it is up to Neil and myself to try and get the players motivated and up to the challenge of avoiding relegation," said Kimble.
"It won't be easy but we are confident that there is enough ability in the squad to achieve the goal and while we are acting in a caretaker capacity at the moment we would relish the challenge permanently. Tilbury has a huge amount of potential and the people behind the club don't deserve to see it struggle and we will be doing our utmost to turn things around."
Speight, who has experience of the non-league scene in the north before moving to Essex earlier this year, believes the partnership between himself and Kimble will be a good one.
"Garry can still do a job on the field and we certainly need his experience. Hopefully his work on the field and mine off it will be a decent combination. Though I've been involved in football management for more than 20 years and have been involved with a number of clubs at this level and the Football League in one way or another this is a step up for me in terms of direct responsibility and as much a challenge for me as it is for Garry in his first managerial role.
"Obviously we are unproven but I think we can gel well and work together to bring the best out of the players we have and hopefully be able to bring in some new faces to freshen up the squad.
"I feel very, very sorry for Paul Joynes who had a run of really awful luck and never got the chance to get the best from his squad. He has done a phenomenal amount of work for Tilbury and as someone who has worked on the sidelines this season I know first hand how much effort he put in."
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