Darren Freeman insists the fire in his belly to manage again after a break from football.

The former Albion favourite has been out of the game since being sacked by Whitehawk last January.

Freeman led the Hawks on a meteoric rise from County League football to Conference south in four years, winning three championships along the way.

However, he was dismissed from his role at the Enclosed Ground almost nine months ago with Whitehawk embroiled in a relegation battle which they eventually got out of under Freeman’s permanent replacement, Steven King.

Freeman, 41, has had offers to return to management but says the right opportunity has not come along.

He did some coaching at Eastbourne Borough under Tommy Widdrington last season and has been scouting for Luton Town.

However, he is chomping at the bit to get back into the game and insists when a job does come along he will be an even better manager than the one which tasted so much success at Whitehawk.

Freeman told The Argus: “Having had the break I’m hungry to manage again. I want success as a manager. I feel I have been successful and I’m ready to go again now.

“The break has done me good and I have learnt a lot. It is okay getting your own way in football all the time but sometimes when you are out of a job it makes you look at things more.

“I have had several job offers but it has got to be the right club for me. I want to go to a club where they are ambitious as much as I am. I want to go to a club where I feel I can take that club forward.

“I manage like I used to play, I’m a 110% person. Over the years I have been quite good at getting the best out of players.

“I didn’t jump straight back into a job. When I left Whitehawk my phone rang straight away but I needed a little bit of a break and I feel that has done me good, it has made me look at things a little differently and has recharged my batteries. I have that fire in my belly again and I’m raring to go.”

Freeman was hugely disappointed not to be given more time at Whitehawk and felt he would have kept them in Conference south if he had been allowed that.

But the club remains close to his heart and he insists he has no desire to grind an axe. Instead he wants to focus on the success he achieved with the club which he believes will stand him in good stead moving forward.

He also points to the role he has played in moving players into the professional game as another quality in his armour, with Rafael Rossi Branco moving from Whitehawk to Swindon under his management, recommending Peacehaven’s Charlie Walker to Luton and helping Eastbourne Borough youngster Olutobi Adabayo-Rowling earn a professional contract at Peterborough.

Freeman said: “I look back at Whitehawk and I have got great memories. I was there as a kid and I went back to my roots. I took Whitehawk from County League football to Conference south and not many managers can say that. We won leagues along the way and we also reached the semi-finals of the FA Vase.

“I was disappointed with what happened (getting sacked) but everything comes to an end at some stage. You move on. I have got a tool bag which I have learnt loads from and that will take me on to my next job. I feel I’m ready for that now.”