Coventry Sphinx manager Luke Hopkins has expressed his delight after the Midland Football League Premier Division club confirmed the appointment of Craig Herbert as a coach at the club.
A former professional with West Bromwich Albion and Shrewsbury Town before making over 250 appearances for Rugby Town and later, having a couple of stints as caretaker manager, before taking over as assistant manager to Dave Stringer.
Hopkins told the Sphinx website: 'Getting Herbs on board alongside myself and Dutts is a massive step forward for us, he's been there and done it in the league above playing, coaching and assisting a manager. so we are hoping he can help in many ways and show to higher calibre of players we mean business this coming season. When I brought Dutts into the club, it was major addition and he put together largely the youth team which has been successful this year at youth level and developed into the first team level adding Herbs and his experience I think it gives us the perfect blend.
"People may laugh and think it's all talk, but we have just done our development year of getting lads aged 16 to 18, 30 to 50 games under their belt, they are now a year older and have some crucial experience that add the players we want to attract to that we think it’s a good mixture to help us challenge on a sustainable budget.
"Other clubs, hide the fact they give a few lads a few quid for petrol and a drink after the game, but let's be realistic there are teams two levels below us have a four figure budget each week to play with, so if you want to compete in your local areas for the player pool you need to add to the package on offer, we have always offered a good environment to play in and tried to look after the lads as one as a unit, adding Craig in alongside Stuart these are footballing people with knowledge so hopefully it will see go close, or be there abouts come this time next year.We are certainly looking forward to adding to the squad over the coming weeks"