GRAYS Athletic chairman Mike Woodward has revealed he will take charge of the team until the end of the season.

Woodward sacked previous boss Frank Gray after last week's shock FA Cup loss to Bromley and immediately put himself in charge on a caretaker basis.

But speaking after his first league game in charge, Saturday's 1-1 draw with Cambridge United, Woodward confirmed he had now turned the caretaker post into a full time position.

He has also revealed there will be no first-team coach brought in saying he was confident with the backroom team he has at his disposal.

"There will be no search for a manager," he said. "Mick Woodward has taken over until the end of the season. There will be no new manager and no new coaches. What I want I have got here and I'm happy. It's not a case of watch this space. It's a case of I'm the manager, not the caretaker.

"While I have been away people have been looking after things like the boardroom and the bar and they have done a fantastic job. So I don't have to worry about that anymore. I can just concentrate on the football now and let them concentrate on the other stuff.

"We will assess it (the situation) in May. If we happen to be in the play-off position then fair enough. If we are not they always say the second season is the hardest and if that's the case then I will accept that. Then there will be no surprise manager resignation in May. I will know what I'm doing and will be able to work my way into it."

Woodward is keen to point out his role will be very much as manager with the likes of Colin Barnes, Mark Stein and Jamie Stuart taking up the coaching.

And the chairman-cum-manager believes he has a lot to offer.

"No disrespect to Mark (Stimson) if you look at the players that are here, I brought them in," he said. "Mark brought some in but you don't become a chairman and be a successful club by not knowing players. I have got some good people around me who can identify players. I think I have got a lot to offer.

"I manage a lot of men on the railway. My philosophy is that I can manage people, I'm not a coach but I've got people around me who can so I'm happy with that. Look at Ferguson he's not a coach but he's the greatest manager in the country. He has got people who coach and he manages and that's what I'll do. I've got Colin Barnes, I've got Mark Stein, and I've got Jamie Stuart who has been absolutely fantastic. We have sat down and we have talked and we feel what we have got here is enough and we are going to run with it until May."

Stuart has taken up much of the day-to-day coaching at the club and Woodward says he has all the attributes to be a success in his new dual role.

He said: "Stuart is well respected by the players. He has got their attention and you can't ask for anymore than that. He is an absolute delight to work with and I will say that not one of the other players has moaned. They have all got on with it and are doing their job and I'm happy with that."

Woodward even revealed that he thought about taking the manager's job before offering it to Gray in the summer.

"When the job come up I was asked originally by the players to take over but I didn't think the time was right because I was still doing some developing and the business," he said.

"Since the season started one of my sons now runs the railway, others do this and do that so I'm dispersing responsibility. Now I feel why pay someone else money to run the club when I can do it? I think I'm going to do a good job."

On his dismissal of Gray, Woodward said: "It was a difficult decision to make. I've worked very hard with other people to get Grays to a point where we can't go backwards. I'm not going to say that Frank was taking the club backwards but there were certain things that I wasn't happy with.

"It was not all Frank's doing he brought in some other people who I felt weren't giving him the backing he deserved. As the chairman and owner of the club I felt I owe it to the supporters to deal with it there and then. There was no use in hanging around, it was not working. We dealt with it and buried it. That's not saying that Frank has done anything wrong. I just felt the club needed to go to the next step and I needed to take hold of the reins and deal with it myself."