 He took over as manager of his hometown club Bedford Town (where Wilson had previously been manager) in January 2004, and guided Bedford to the play-offs in 2004–05.In 2005–06, he took the club all the way out of the play-offs from the Southern Football League Premier Division to the Conference South.However, Bedford struggled the following season and Platnauer resigned in January 2007 with his side bottom of the table, at the season's end the club had failed to improve their position and were relegated.