Paul Doswell says there is only one way he would be a manager in the Football League, and that’s with Sutton United.

The Gander Green Lane boss has spent eight years guiding United to the top tier of non-League football, and he has a three-year plan to get them to the next level.

However, he insists his credentials would open the door to League One management today, although it is a door he has no intention of opening.

His three-year plan is vital in allowing him to re-balance his work-life with football, because right now, that balance only works at United.

“I could not afford to manage a League One club because of what I do workwise,” said Doswell, who runs his own building projects company.

“It was a burning ambition to be a professional footballer, which I missed out on, but not to be a pro manager.

“I have zero attraction of managing a Dagenham or Crawley, not really. I know I could do it.

“There are some terrible managers in league football, most of them have zero man-management skills because they have not been involved in business and dealt with people.

“Just because you are a good footballer does not make you a good manager.”

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He added: “If you speak to a lot of the lads who have come through our door, they will tell you they get treated poorly by managers – they can be quite aloof.

“I treat players in the same way I treat people at work, and that is with respect. You show then respect until such times they don’t show it to you.”

Doswell spent eight year rebuilding Eastleigh, and another eight years building Sutton United – although his time at Gander Green Lane almost never happened.

He said: “My CV now would indicate I could apply for jobs if I wanted to.

“But the only job I applied for, a long time ago and I got to the second interview, was AFC Wimbledon.

“I left Eastleigh, where I had been very successful, and I had an interview with Erik [Samuelson, Dons chief executive] and the board at a hotel in Kingston.

“I said there and then that they would plump for Terry Brown because he was a bigger name than me, and that is what they did, and Terry went on to enjoy great success there.”

He added: “The club was so attuned to what I was always about, it’s a fans-owned club which had been kicked in the nuts.

“They were at that conference south level at the time, which is where I knew I would be ok.

“I was not at Sutton then, and ever since I have been there I have never applied for a job, and I have never been sounded out.”