If Craig Liddle does not want the Darlington job, he is going the wrong way about it.
He turned it down earlier this month, but has now been in temporary charge for three league games and Quakers have won all of them with the latest success making a little bit of history.
Saturday's 2-0 win over Tamworth made it three successive league wins - the first time Darlington have taken nine points from nine since 2008.
Hardly a monumental achievement, though one that is as telling of the club's inability to be consistent in recent seasons as it is indicative of an imminent upturn in fortunes.
But their form is remarkable, given the turmoil that has enveloped the club over the last month. Since chairman Raj Singh's very public resolution to cut costs, a host of players have left and a number have had their wages reduced.
Yet Liddle has simultaneously maintained a strong spirit within the squad and guided the team to the victories which have taken them to 11th - six off the play-offs.
And he has done all that while continuing his work as head of youth, a position he is content to stay in.
He said: "If we win another ten games then I'll think about it, but at this moment I'm happy with the youths.
"I wasn't happy this morning as the youth team lost for the first time in a long time, but seeing Dale Hopson coming into the first-team makes me believe even more that my strengths are in developing players.
"The more we keep winning, maybe the longer the chairman will keep me in this position, and if we go unbeaten for the rest of the season then I'd quite happily stay as caretaker."
Liddle vowing to continue as caretaker as long as Quakers are winning is a fine sentiment, but the state of flux surely cannot continue, given the hours he is putting in by looking after two teams.
He is not the sort to moan about the workload, but he revealed on Saturday that he does not even have any scout reports, instead relying on weighing up the opposition in the early stages of matches.
Time will tell whether he has a change of heart about replacing Mark Cooper, but coaxing the best out of teenagers has been proven to be one of Liddle's strengths.
Hopson is his latest protégé and the 19-year-old's startling introduction to senior football continued on Saturday.
He got on the scoresheet in injury time, just as he did on his debut a week previously at Ebbsfleet United when he ran the show.
Though not as influential against Tamworth, there were moments of class, such as a sublime pass with the outside of his boot that allowed Aaron Brown to swing a cross in, and another led to Adam Rundle thumping a shot against the bar.
Those came during a first half in which Quakers were otherwise uninspiring. They stood off a decent Tamworth team, allowing them to play the ball around precisely and put Darlington on the backfoot.
John McReady made a goal-line clearance and Sam Russell did well to save from Nabil Shariff.
"We got caught between wanting to protect the back four and getting tight to their men," said Liddle.
"We looked like the away side, we were standing off too much and Tamworth were causing problems."
But Liddle had some words at half-time and Darlington improved with the first goal being created by Hopson.
His vision and deft touch resulted in another precisely-weighted pass to Rundle and the left-winger prodded home his first goal of the season from 16 yards.
There followed a period in which they looked good for a second, but Darlington were only briefly at their best and had to show their battling qualities to stay ahead while Russell was in top form.
He is understood to be among a small number yet to formalise a wage reduction, but he proved his worth by stopping a Danny Thomas volley and a Paul Green header.
In the dying seconds of injury time, though, Tamworth sent forward keeper Jonathon Hedge for one last corner, but Quakers cleared, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson sent Hopson clear and he kept his composure to pass the ball into the net.
"I knew he'd score, just as I knew he'd score last week when he took it around the keeper," said Liddle.
"His pass for the first goal was top-quality and he also set Adam up when he hit the bar.
"There were people watching him here today which is great. I get phone calls everyday about some of the kids in the youth team and Dale's creating a lot of interest.
"Hopefully, he will go on to establish himself at this club or make a lot of money for Darlington, which he is capable of doing because he has got the quality to play at a higher level."
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