Steve Tully: Exeter and Weymouth legend eyes manager job

It’s a bold claim given both clubs currently have experienced and successful managers Bobby Wilkinson and Tom Killick in situ respectively.

But there can be no doubting Tully is readying himself for another foray into management.

When the former full-back ending his playing career at Truro, he was thrust straight into the White Tigers’ hotseat.

He would go on to spend two and a half years at the Cornish side, taking them from Step 3 into Step 2.

Rewinding back to his first few games, Tully had 10 matches to save Truro from relegation and ideally needed four wins to secure safety. He won six of them to stay up.

After the 2014/15 season, he achieved promotion and then finished fourth in the Conference South before going on to lose 2-0 to Maidstone in the play-offs.

His management journey with Truro came to an end in 2016 but this was only the first step on his pathway.

“From there, I enjoyed that side of it and I’ve worked at Plymouth as an academy coach and then I worked at Exeter as lead coach of the under-16s,” he told Echosport.

“I’ve managed to do my badges, I’m just finalising my (UEFA) Pro licence now, I’ve done by AYA.”

Tully now finds himself as Bristol Rovers Under-18s manager and has worked with current first-team boss Matt Taylor in his first few months with the Gas.

And the former Weymouth, Torquay and Exeter star is relishing being a permanent fixture at a professional League One club.

“It helps you get your badges done and I’ve loved every moment of it looking after the under-18s,” he said.

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the role but there’s going to be a time where something’s going to take my fancy in management and that’s something I’d look in to.

“Obviously, being a former player at Weymouth I look at their results and my boys like the area.

“I always think that Dorchester and Weymouth should be a lot higher than what they are, so it’s something that’s always taken my fancy.”

He added: “I’m at a stage now where I’m 43, I’ve been there and done it playing-wise, I’ve done the coaching, academies and developing players. Now, I want to get on with a first team.

“Matt came in as Bristol Rovers manager and I helped him out for about three weeks as assistant.

“I knew that was just a stop-gap but I thoroughly enjoyed it, liked being around it and you feel like you’re always pushing to the next thing.

“I believe in my strengths as a manager. I feel like my man management skills are very good, my tactical awareness is a lot better than it was five or six years ago and I feel like I’ve developed as a coach.

“There’s going to be a time when something comes up and I would definitely look in to becoming a manager.

“I don’t think you can ever go in at a certain level, because you can’t choose. If something’s there and you feel like you can make an impression, get on board with a club, that ambition and their journey, that’s something I’d look in to.

“I think Weymouth are in an interesting position and Dorchester are on an upward curve. You think for that size and where they are, they’ll get crowds and push on.

“That’s something you look out for.

“Weymouth competing with the likes of Torquay and Yeovil, I was Torquay born and bred, it’s not nice seeing them down at that level but they’re down there for a reason.

“You want them to push on. I’d love for that role to come up but you just don’t know whether you’re experienced enough.

“People will look at you and think: ‘Yeah, you’ve not been a manager for five or six years now, you’ve gone into academy coaching’ and they look at you differently.

“I know that, I’m not stupid, I’ve spent nearly 20-odd years in professional football so I know what it’s about.”

Given Tully’s exposure to the professional game, he is unafraid to work his way up from a lower level, just as he did at Truro.

He said: “You’ve got to have honesty, whether it’s from the chairman or the club as a whole.

“If you’ve all got the same line, ambitions and you want the same things, that’s how things work.

“It’s when chairmen and managers go off and want different things, that’s how it can change. I’ve been on the end of it.

“To not be offered a new contract when Truro finished fourth, that was tough to take. That’s football.

“You get to realise that the chairman runs the club and it’s their prerogative. I was out of contract and they decided to go down a different route.

“It’s tough. You think: ‘What did I do wrong? Actually, I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Having worked briefly alongside Taylor, himself a former Exeter employee, Tully has been given a strong insight into the needs of an EFL club.

He said: “Just being around a professional club, it gives you a real eye of how it’s done, how you want to get it done and you think how you would put things in place.

“There’s loads of different ideas and you’re never going to agree with everything, but you go along with them and give them support, to the best of your ability.

“I’ve learnt a lot being under-18s manager at Bristol Rovers. It’s a different mindset to being down in the South West and how Torquay, Exeter and Plymouth work compared to the Bristol clubs.

“For me, it’s been a real eye-opener and one I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. The more experience you have in football, sometimes it might not be good, but in the long run it gives you an idea of how you want to achieve things.”

Tully spent a total of five seasons in two spells at Weymouth, latterly in the Garry Hill era, playing 210 times, winning 96 games and scoring 14 goals.

Steve Tully's career stats at Weymouth (Image: DORSET ECHO)

He also featured in the famous 1-1 FA Cup draw at Nottingham Forest in November 2005.

His efforts at the Terras resulted in a Hall of Fame spot last year, when Tully was inducted alongside the likes of legendary manager Frank O’Farrell.

“I loved it,” he recalled.

“Not being funny, whenever you get released from a professional club, I was 21 at the time and I thought I’d walk into another Football League club.

“I thought it would be as easy as that, because you always think you’re better than what you are.

“I was lucky enough, I walked into a team, Geoff Butler at the time was manager and they looked after me.

“The players were amazing and the fans were incredible. I had a tough first season but after that I got to know and love the club. It changed rapidly.

“It went from a part-time club to full-time under Steve Claridge and then Garry Hill. It was a club that the more you won and the more they saw players running around and giving everything, 100 per cent effort, the fans could get on top of that.

“I think they saw that with me, they saw that every game I’d give 120 per cent and I enjoyed it, going in after games and speaking with them all.

“I’ve still got great affection with them now. I love going back and watching games and being around it, because there’s so many great people at the club.”

While Tully feels he is ready to jump back into management, he has not put a time limit on his next job.

“It’s easy to go: ‘Next week’ but it doesn’t work like that,” Tully explained.

“The right job’s got to come up at the right time and it’s got to be matched ambitions for everybody. That’s the thing I can align to.

“Even in a youth team job there might be something that comes up, that I can really get my teeth in to and influence the club.

“Time will tell. I don’t think you can ever put a time limit on. You’ve just got to be ready. Now, I’m in a really good place, I’ve done my qualifications and I’m ready to take the next step.”

So, while an immediate job at the likes of Weymouth or Dorchester might not be waiting for Tully, it is clearly a proposition that attracts him.

The challenge now is to find a job and club that meets with his desires and blueprint for the future.

Whether that is at the Terras and Magpies, in the next two, five or even 10 years remains to be seen.

But one thing is for certain, the current Rovers under-18s boss is building up an impressive CV.

It can only be a matter of time before a non-League club takes a chance on him.