Very surprised to hear this news.
OK, we haven't exactly set the world on fire in recent games but in terms of results this is hardly a crisis.
Maybe Chris felt he had taken us as far as he could and some fresh ideas are needed.
Clearly he can't have been too happy with what he has seen on the pitch this season.
I'm sure we'll hear his thoughts in due course.
Following Hastings from far away.......... for many years and opinions about style, energy,attractive way of playing
on the one hand and facts, results and targets on the other hand are not the same. You can always have your opinions about the way of playing and if you like that type of football and discuss this in a decent way but strangely Agutter thinks and/or believes that the target of this season ( promotion) under his management will not be reached.
The difference between success and failure is often very small. While we can hardly say results have been poor this season, I think most people would agree we simply haven't reached a level of performance that we had attained at this point in 2019.
Lanre hasn't quite reproduced what he did two years ago and Daniel was creating more than Dave Martin has.
We are certainly missing Jake Elliott storming down the right and these three gave Ben plenty of goal chances.
DR7 has gone and he gave us another quality alternative up front. Meanwhile Jack who has a great eye for the killer pass has been forced to play deeper.
All of these small factors add up to a less potent attacking unit and up to now games have been narrowly won more with resolute defence than our ability to overwhelm opponents with an irresistible attacking force.
I feel a lot of supporters have rather tired of our persistent passing amongst the back five which ultimately has lead to a hurried punt up field once we get closed down...and possession being lost.
Obviously a few injuries haven't helped. Ryan needs to be the playmaker in front of the back four and not in the back four.
So maybe the time is right to redeploy our forces slightly differently, get the ball forward quicker and if we are serious about trying to win the league, strengthen in a couple of positions.
Let's see what happens next. Certainly that easy ride to winning the league that we had hoped for isn't going to happen.
In agreement with the many I saw comment on social media earlier on today, I was also in shock and did not see it coming. Since I first came to the Pilot Field (back in 2013) and it's only my opinion but Chris has been by far the best manager I've seen - nothing to do with results as such but more to do with installing a new way of playing, strengthening and developing the squad in areas that were needed most with youth coming in and playing such a big success - even to this day, and building such a good team spirit. Yes we may have lost players over the last 2-3 years that added pace and fluidity to our game however I have confidence in the meantime that Andrew Brown and the rest of the backroom staff will get up and running from tomorrow, although Haywards Heath at the end of the month will be a tough test and not so straightforward. Wish Chris all the best wherever he goes next.
Non-league paper has interviews with Billy and Chris. Did Chris really say,"This year has been the best start we've ever made." Surely a mis-quote or print. Have seen us play poorly in a number of matches and when Chris is quoted as saying "It was important for me to leave on a positive note" could it be he wanted out before things got worse?
If anyone wants a challenge there is a big one waiting for our next manager!
I honestly think he has left us in a mess, not enough players in the squad, and a squad full of young or over 30s we need a massive injection of talent or we will struggle to make play offs.
Well now we know he must have been putting himself up for jobs elsewhere, hardly a surprise our form dipped if the manager was looking elsewhere for employment.
