Kevin Keehan's position as manager of Lewes Football Club looks to be under threat after the club announced it is to hold an emergency board meeting to discuss 'the current position'.
The news comes hot on the heels of last night's humiliating FA Cup exit at the hands of tiny Leiston.
Blue Square Premier side Lewes were comprehensively beaten by the Ridgeons Eastern Counties League outfit – the equivalent to the Sussex County L
eague.
The cup exit cost the Rooks £12,500 for making it past the fourth qualifying stage – and a potential £32,500 in all had the Dripping Pan outfit gone on to beat Blue Square North strugglers Fleetwood Town in the First Round Proper.
It was cash the club could ill afford to lose as it battles to avoid relegation back to the Blue Square South while also trying to bring the Dripping Pan up to the necessary A Grading for the Conference National.
Keehan last week told the Sussex Express that progress in the FA Cup was "Vital from a club point of view with the monetary situation."
The Rooks boss was not helped last night by having to field a weakened, young side due to injuries to the likes of Danny Cullip and Michael Standing, the absence of influential loan signings such as Sam Gargan, Jack Compton and Aswad Thomas, and the club suspension of striker Chamal Fenelon following an incident against Wick in the Sussex Senior Cup last week.
But nevertheless, the performance against Leiston on Tuesday night was still surprisingly poor, with the Suffolk outfit looking the better team for long periods of the game.
The cup debacle comes after a disappointing start to the season, with the Rooks propping up the Blue Square Premier table. And after what appeared to be a mini-revival with Lewes threatening to move up the table, last week's miserable home defeat to fellow strugglers Northwich Victoria darkened fans' moods again.
The statement released by the club today reads, "Lewes FC has called an emergency board meeting.
"As a number of Directors are unavailable this week, the meeting has been arranged for next week to discuss the current position.
"The club will not be making any further comment until after this meeting."
The full article contains 383 words and appears in Sussex Express Series newspaper.