‘Lucky to have him’: Harborough Town boss Mitch Austin heaps praise on assistant manager Dave Staff
Harborough Town head coach Mitch Austin has hailed assistant manager Dave Staff for his influence on the Bees’ title-winning success.
Heading into a first-ever campaign in the National League North following promotion from the Southern League Premier Central, Harborough have a lot to owe their coaching team for.
Austin may be the one to grab the headlines - and in many cases our headlines - but his right-hand man has been pivotal to the Bees’ progression.
Ever since he joined in July 2023, following successful spells with Brackley Town and AFC Telford, Staff has gone from strength to strength alongside Austin.
“I’m the manager but he gets everything organised, we’ll talk tactics, we’ll talk selection, everything is a joint venture,” Austin told @HarbTownFC.
“We’ll battle each other daily. We don’t agree all the time, but we come to a mutual agreement for the best of the badge.
“Staffy needs a lot of credit. He will hate this, that’s why I’m bringing it up. He’s the polar opposite to me, I want to be on the camera, he doesn’t.
“But I need to tell people, it’s a pleasure to work with Staff. He’s so good for the football club, he’s so good for me.
“He keeps us grounded, he keeps us organised. We’re really lucky to have Staffy. The success is down to him equally as much as it is me.
“He doesn’t need that (the praise) to keep working hard for the football club, to keep grafting. I just want to show some gratitude.”
As much as he doesn’t necessarily like being in the limelight, Staff appreciated Austin’s comments.
“We’ve all got a role to play and it works for me that I’m a competitor, I like to win.” Staff replied.
“I have a way of working that helps us get towards that with the support of the other people.
“It’s been a great journey and let’s hope we can continue to be successful.”