Matthew Etherington: Colchester interim boss says 32-day spell with Crawley took 'a while to get over'

Matthew Etherington began his playing career at Peterborough United before joining Tottenham ahead of spells with Bradford on loan and permanent moves to West Ham and Stoke

Colchester United interim boss Matthew Etherington says he was not looking to return to management after admitting it took him "a while to get over" his 32-day spell in charge of Crawley Town.

Etherington left his role at the League Two Red Devils in late December 2022 after three games at the helm.

The 42-year-old was put in temporary control of the U's following Ben Garner's sacking on Monday.

Etherington says he will be in charge for the "foreseeable future".

"The infrastructure here is set up to be successful - there's no doubt in my mind about that," the former Tottenham, West Ham and Stoke winger told BBC Essex.

"There are some good and talented people here so everything's in place for us to be a success and hopefully, moving forward, the club can be."

Colchester set-up a 'million miles' away from Crawley

Etherington joined Colchester as lead under-21 coach in the summer and has stepped up into the role as manager after Garner's exit, following a poor run of form that left the U's in the bottom two in League Two.

He said a chat with chairman Robbie Cowling and director Dmitri Halajko, together with working with the youth players, persuaded him to come back into first-team management again after his short-lived experience at Crawley.

Initially named as successor to Kevin Betsy on 27 November 2022, Etherington left on 29 December with the west Sussex club saying their partnership was "not the right fit".

"What happened at Crawley took me a while to get over," Etherington said.

"Me leaving the club on my terms wasn't an easy decision for my family. It was a unique experience but the foundations of this football club are a million miles away from that.

"There's good people here so that gives me reassurance. I had a conversation with Dmitri and Robbie and they want me to take the team for the foreseeable future - how long that is I don't know and we'll just take it from there."

Etherington says he understands the disruption a manager's sudden departure can have on a squad, having experienced that several times during his playing career.

As a result, he has made it a priority to talk to the players who were brought in by Garner and may have been feeling uncertain about their futures at the club now he has gone.

"I've spoken to quite a few of the boys Ben knew and brought in and who may be thinking 'what's next?' and 'what does the next six months look like for me?''" Etherington said.

"So there's a little bit or reassurance around that - that's really important because, as footballer, the game can change really quickly. One minute they're in the team and the next they're not, so reassuring them of the plan is important - but they do seem like a really together group."

'A lot of emotion' followed Grimsby win

Etherington got off to a winning start with Tuesday's 3-2 win at Grimsby - Colchester's first in the league since 30 September.

He says his previous understanding of the club and players from his work with the under-21 side helped him settle in - something that he also experienced in his previous stint as an interim manager at Peterborough in February 2022.

"Yeah I think it helps. I took over for one game against Fulham in the Championship when Darren Ferguson resigned at Peterborough and knowing the players beforehand and their characters does help you, rather than going in without knowing the players at a deeper level.

"The celebrations at the end [of the Grimsby game] showed how much it means to them. A lot of emotion came out.

"They knew how big that win was for the club and them individually. In terms of effort, commitment and desire I thought they were outstanding."

Ahead of Saturday's trip to Accrington, Etherington is not looking too far ahead in terms of his permanent future at the club.

"I'm not going to go 'I want that job' - that's not the way I work or do things. Let's see what happens," he said.