Former captain Naim Rouane named Lancing manager

Lancers have appointed a replacement for Mark Pulling, who left the club earlier this month.

Rouane is well known to supporters of the Culver Road outfit.

He captained the side to Peter Bentley Cup glory in 2016 and they achieved a fourth-placed SCFL Premier Division finish in the same season.

Since leaving Lancing, Rouane has skippered Haywards Heath Town in the Bostik League.

Lancers' new boss has also appointed David Altendorff as assistant manager/head coach and Kane Louis will be assistant manager/player.

Rouane was joint manager of Haywards Heath's under-18s last term, alongside Altendorff.

Chairman Steve Taylor revealed the newly named manager fitted the club's vision.

He said: "We were extremely impressed by Naz during the interviews.

"His enthusiasm is infectious, he has assembled a quality management team and his plans fit perfectly with where we are looking to take the club over the coming seasons."

Lancing are also placing more of a focus on youth development over the coming seasons.

And Daniel Fuller-Smith, who is overseeing the under-16 to under-23 teams, feels the appointment is the right one.

He said: "We had already started to make changes to the structure of the teams below the first team and the appointment of Naz and his team fits perfectly with our plans.

"We have recruited an FA Level 2 coach for all three of our development teams to ensure that we offer the best development we can for our youth players.

"We have some really good under-16s and under-17s at the club and advancing them through the age groups to grow into future first team players from within the club is key to our plans."

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