Steve Conroy is the front runner to take the Kings Langley management role long-term after being appointed until the end of the season, says chairman Jeremy Wilkins.

Paul Hobbs’ departure in December led to Conroy taking over in a interim capacity.

He has now been given the remainder of the season to show why he is the right man to be trusted with leading the Gaywood Park club as they look to establish themselves further in the Southern League Premier Division.

Wilkins has been impressed with what he has seen so far from Conroy and says he will be given every opportunity to prove he is the right man for the position.

“My view is that Steve was doing a lot of good things behind the scenes and deserved this chance. He is the man at the moment and is certainly in pole position to do the job long-term,” Wilkins said.

“For the role to continue it is about the improvement he makes on the pitch and what he can bring in terms of developing players.

“He needed to know he had a period of time to implement his ideas and we have given him that until the end of the season.

“Steve has a similar brief to the one Paul was given, to shape the squad and make sure we can be competitive at this level going forward.”

The decision to part company with Hobbs was not taken lightly and Wilkins praised the former Kings’ boss’ impact in keeping the club up last season.

Wilkins felt a change of manager was needed in order to give Kings’ season a shot in the arm after a difficult start to the campaign while still maintaining stability.

“The parting of the ways with Paul was because we needed to make a change and freshen things up a little bit,” he said.

“You may say appointing someone who was already at the club, but he has different views about playing style and how we should set up.

“Paul did a fantastic job and it wasn’t a case that everything was wrong, we just wanted to make a change to get some better results.

“Steve has some good ideas and the players have reacted well to them.”

While Conroy may have offered a fresh approach, results on the pitch have continued to prove elusive in the league at least.

They slipped to 22nd in the table after second-half goals from Ollie Snaith, Tom Knowles and Peter Clark allowed visiting St Ives Town to ease to a 3-0 win on Saturday.

It is, perhaps, fortunate that only one side will get relegated rather than the usual four this season as the league goes through a restructuring.

With Gosport Borough 13 points behind Kings in the table the situation could well offer Langley a relegation reprieve.

Tuesday saw Conroy’s men put their league concerns firmly to one side as they advanced to the semi-final of the Herts Senior Cup with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Ware.

Kings were the better side throughout and goals from Callum Adebiyi, Gareth Price and Matt Ball gave them a comfortable win.

They turn their attention back to league commitments tomorrow as they travel to Latimer Park to take on Kettering Town.

Kettering will be a tough assignment and are in the hunt for the title, sitting just a point and a place behind leaders King’s Lynn Town.