THE good, the bad and the ugly – Matty Holmes has experienced most of the curved balls football has to offer.

From the highs of bursting on to the scene at Cherries, wowing crowds at West Ham and a renaissance at Charlton to the lows of being frozen out at Blackburn, the new Wimborne Town boss would not change much.

As he takes his first steps in senior management, leaving behind a decade-long association with the Cherries Academy, Holmes now plans to use every peak and trough as a tool to craft a career in the dugout.

After 114 Football League appearances and eight goals during his time at Dean Court, Holmes helped West Ham back to the top flight and soon made his mark among England’s elite.

Premier League champions Blackburn came calling and paid £1.2million – a hefty fee in those days – for the protégé’s services.

Two years and just nine league appearances later, it was clear the move had not worked but Holmes had no regrets.

“They had just won the league and it was my big move,” he said. “Being involved in Champions League football with the likes of Alan Shearer, Chris Sutton, Graeme Le Saux and David Batty was unbelievable.

“Even if you’re not playing, you cannot buy those experiences. People look at the stats but it is about your whole career and you learn an awful lot whether you play or not, good and bad things.

“When I didn’t play at Blackburn, very few people spoke to me. I’m not arrogant enough to say I should have been playing but I did learn about how managers could speak to you. At times in my career, that was something that wasn’t nice.

“It’s a hard part of management, explaining to players why they’re not included so, hopefully, I can put an arm round players and give them reasons if they need to come out of the team.

“There were a lot of good things I took from Blackburn as well, being around top players and seeing their habits.

“I can tell my forwards what I saw from Alan Shearer. My lads might not be able to do things to that level but you can help them to progress by drip feeding valuable information.

“Hopefully, I can get across those traits as well as my own style of play.”

Having served Cherries for so long, working with the likes of Joe Roach and under the stewardship of Eddie Howe, it is unsurprising to hear Holmes’s take on how the game should be played.

“I want to watch Wimborne play good football,” he said. “If I see players who do not take responsibility or do not want the ball, why are they out there?

“Everybody wants to see an attractive game and I want to enjoy watching them but at the same time, I am not stupid – I know non-league is tough, I have seen enough of it.

“Some matches might be messy or untidy but we have to be brave and affect the game by getting the ball down at the right times. That is what I want to try to bring to the table.”

It is a brave approach, particularly in the muck and bullets of the semi-pro game, but come what may, Holmes seems determined to do it his way: “I have had some really nice messages wishing me well but I know there will be people out there saying ‘he hasn’t managed before’. Fair enough, I haven’t but where do you start? Where do you learn?

“I might last a month, I might last two months but one thing is for certain, I will put in the work. If I don’t succeed, it will not be for the want of trying.”