New Dulwich boss secures win on debut and believes the players ‘let down’ ex-boss Barnes

Hakan Hayrettin got off to a winning start as Dulwich Hamlet boss thanks to Ronnie Vint’s 67th-minute goal against St Albans City.

The Hamlet had been without a win in their last 10 outings in all competitions and slipped to 19th in the National League South before the weekend.

Hayrettin, who won promotion with Maidstone United last season to the National League and was voted National League South manager of the year at the end of the campaign, replaced Paul Barnes on Thursday evening.

Barnes left Dulwich on Wednesday after ‘lengthy discussions about the current direction of the team’s fortunes and the longer-term projects at the club’.

“It wasn’t on the cards,” Hayrettin told the club’s YouTube channel of how the move came to fruition.

“It’s no secret, I have made it public – my mother is not really well.

“I was out in Cyprus with my family and my siblings. I got a couple of phone calls – one from another team as well.

“But Dulwich wet my lips and pursued it and pursued it. Before I knew it, on the Wednesday, I spoke about three times [with the club], and on Thursday, I’m on the plane coming back early morning.

“Straight off the plane, straight here and getting things tied up and ready to go.

“This is a fantastic football club with amazing support.

“These boys have to realise that I think, in my own personal opinion, they let the old manager down, and now is the time to put that right.

“He was probably an exceptional manager and a good coach, but sometimes things don’t work out. 

“People come in, take over, and we got a response. The boys know they owe the crowd, but it’s my job now to keep them on their toes.

“Add to what we have done today and let them know that every time they cross that white line, we’re going to try and get three points.”

The win against St Albans moved Dulwich onto 35 points and up to 18th.

“Amazing. It’s always good to get off to a good start against a very, very good team,” said Hayrettin of the three points.

“They were organised and resilient, but we set about our business of making sure that we tried not to concede, and we defended well in patches.

“Thursday was our first session – we’re a stickler on organisation and making sure we do things the right way.

“Now and again, you know that you’re going to get a chance or something is going to happen. 

“I said to the boys that if we could get the ball into their box, we would cause problems, and we did.

“We got our rewards.”

PICTURES: ROB AVIS AND KEITH GILLARD