Former Cambridge United, Boston United, Rushden & Diamonds and St Albans City goalkeeper relishing managerial return to King’s Lynn

Paul Bastock says he and Ian Culverhouse are “buzzing” to be back at King’s Lynn Town and are ready to reignite the spirit that twice took the club to promotion.

The popular pair, who guided Lynn from the Southern League to the National League in just three years, returned this week as part of a new regime seeking to stabilise the club’s fortunes and reconnect with supporters.

“It’s home, isn’t it?” Bastock smiled.

“It’s good to see familiar faces. When the gaffer said the opportunity was there to come back, I was delighted.”

This marks Bastock’s first time officially serving as Culverhouse’s assistant at Lynn, having worked alongside him in earlier stints.

“We had some great times and great memories here,” he said.

“There’s no one better to learn from and work with than the gaffer.

"We treat players the right way and try to get the max out of them, while keeping them in a comfortable space. Hopefully, we can get the club back to where it was when we left.”

Culverhouse echoed those sentiments, admitting that the pair felt a sense of unfinished business.

“We enjoyed it here before,” he said.

“We had success and good people. We just want to bring that feeling back, the togetherness with fans and the community. When this place is rocking, there’s no better ground to play football.”

The duo are eager to revive the buzz that once saw crowds of over 4,000 pack The Walks for National League clashes with the likes of York City.

“It gets the juices flowing,” said Culverhouse.

“When you’re standing on the side with 2,000 or 3,000 behind you pushing the lads, it’s fantastic. We’ve got to make this place uncomfortable for the opposition again.”

Former goalkeeper Bastock, who still holds the all-time record for competitive appearances in English football, admitted that one regret from their last spell was being unable to celebrate promotion with supporters due to Covid restrictions.

“That was hard,” he recalled.

“We’d done all that good work to get promoted, but we couldn’t share it with the fans.

"Starting the next season without crowds, changing in bars and restaurants, it didn’t feel like football. That’s why we’re desperate to bring those moments back.”

The pair will waste no time getting started, with training sessions on Thursday and Friday before Saturday’s trip to Southport.

“We’ll have two sessions and try to get as much detail into the lads as we can,” Culverhouse said.

“It’s a quick turnaround, but we’ve assessed the squad and it’s a good group. They’ve just lost belief, that’s what we’ll change.”

Culverhouse added: “There’s real talent here. We just need to put the right structure in place and let them express themselves.

"We'll put a structure in place that they will follow and will be organised, but at the end of the day, they go and play the game, the players.

"It's about the players having that freedom to go and express themselves under the structure that we've put in place.

"We don’t need a massive rebuild, just small tweaks and hard work. You earn your luck in football, and that’s what we’ll do.”

Both men agree on one thing: the hard work starts now.

“We’re back to get this club moving again,” said Bastock. “Let’s get it rocking.”

The Linnets travel to Southport in the National League North tomorrow.