BEMERTON Heath Harlequins boss Steve Slade has accused his Eastleigh counterpart Paul Doswell of "purchasing" the Wessex League title by splashing out big money on players and using his former post as Hampshire representative manager to recruit for his championship 'dream team'.
Slade's outburst comes in response to an article in The Pink two weeks ago when Doswell said the Wiltshire outfit only had themselves to blame for losing good players because they hadn't put them on contract - and that clubs who disagree with the semi-professional nature of the league should be playing at a lower level.
Doswell unveiled three former Bemerton players among his bumper batch of signings last May - including Wiltshire under-21 striker Robbie Matthews, who went on to plunder a hat-trick against his old club in Eastleigh's 7-0 landslide victory at Western Way last month.
In his programme notes that day, Slade made a couple of digs at the champions elect, saying it was amazing what could be achieved with money when put in the right hands and how Doswell reminded him of another ex-Hampshire manager who went on to win the Wessex title.
The man in question was Eastleigh chairman Roger Sherwood, a championship winner with Romsey Town in 1989/90.
Responding to the article in The Pink, Slade described Doswell's remarks as "pompous and arrogant" and his (Doswell's) sole reason for becoming county manager was "to personally get to know the best players in the county and surrounding counties so he could tap them up and persuade them to his next club side, Eastleigh, the following season."
He reasoned: "I know this from first-hand experience as he approached three Bemerton players while they were playing for their counties during last season. All of them - Rob Matthews and Stuart and Warren Kenna - have told me so.
"Players are only human and, when offered large sums of money like Eastleigh are paying , loyalty seldom comes into it.
"The dealings that have gone on behind the backs of the clubs while the players are on county duty is a disgrace.
"I know there are other Wessex managers who feel a little aggrieved at what has gone on."
On hearing that Bemerton had penned a letter of complaint to the league, Doswell said: "It was Steve who cast the first stone with what he put in his programme notes.
"Being older, Roger (Sherwood) is prepared to smile and let the comments go over his head, but I'm not.
"If Steve is galled at his end, then I'm galled at mine because I know how much work, time and effort has gone in at Eastleigh and it's a bit rich to assume that a club can come in with a few quid and win the league just like that.
"You've got to be ultra-professional too and one thing we spend a lot of time doing is watching players.
"Robbie Matthews played for Wiltshire against Hampshire under-21s, but we watched him three times playing for his county and David Hughes (assistant manager) and I travelled all the way to Swindon and Gloucestershire to watch him - plus a left-back and a central midfielder who we didn't end up signing.
"If other people got off their backsides and worked even half as hard as we have, then maybe they'd find good players too.
"In the case of the Kenna brothers, Stuart phoned Eastleigh last season asking to come back because he and Warren weren't enjoying it at Bemerton.
"Warren wasn't even getting in their side and they only played half a game each for the county."
Doswell stressed: "Signing players for a club side was not the reason I became Hampshire rep manager.
"I didn't even know at the time there was a Wessex job coming up."
Non-league previews in tomorrow's Daily Echo.
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