Boss Hollyhead reveals decision to walk away from Kettering Town was down to his 'well-being'

Contrary to the club's statement that came after the Poppies’ 4-0 defeat at Redditch United on Saturday, which said the club had 'parted ways' with their manager, Hollyhead revealed he had told club officials on Friday that he no longer wanted the position.

Speaking to the Northants Telegraph, Hollyhead stopped short of suggesting any rift or incident between himself and the club hierarchy, instead citing well-being reasons - but did state that since making his decision he feels 'an awful lot lighter'.

"I came to a decision after our training session on Thursday evening," revealed Hollyhead.

"I rang George (Akhtar) on the Friday, we discussed the situation at great lengths and I said that I didn't want to be at the club for my own well-being.

"I'm not bitter, I'm not twisted, I did what I had to do for myself and I'm not about to start talking about individuals or any particular situations.

"Others at the club may have further questions but it's not right for me to comment now that I'm no longer part of the club."

And Hollyhead added: "I am quite a deep thinker, so it was a number of different things that helped me make my decision - It wasn't a rash moment or a single bad day."

During his short tenure at Latimer Park, the 53-year-old received an unprecedented, and at times unwarranted, amount of criticism from a small part of the fanbase which quickly turned due to below-par performances and early exits from both main cup competitions.

But Hollyhead remains very philosophical.

"Look, this is part of non league football now," said the former Banbury United boss. "But this is nothing to what managers get in the professional game where the spotlight is significantly larger.

"The only thing I will say as a manager is that I hope people can appreciate what they don't know, they don't know. As my dad always used to tell me, 'if you can't say it to someone it ain't worth saying'.

"I understand some of the criticism, but there were times where I think we were magnificent - the second half of the Stortford game, magnificent, the 3-0 against Leiston.

"And don't forget, we had some things that we hadn't planned for and we had to navigate through those.

"So to still be where we were up to the Alvechurch game was a positive for me."

Several players including club captain George Forsyth joined Kettering off the back of Hollyhead's arrival as manager.

Asked if there will be player movement now that he has left, Hollyhead replied: "Step 3 football, honestly, there's a lot of movement.

"Players have to do whatever they have to do and is right for them. The same for the support staff - they are not children, they are adults, and like the players they have to do what's best for them.

"I've got massive respect for everyone in that dressing room."

Despite just 138 days in charge, Hollyhead personally grew an affinity for the Poppies, linked by his first childhood memories of Ron Atkinson, who took charge of his home club West Bromwich Albion after his time at Rockingham Road.

"The club is a magnificent non-league football club," said Hollyhead. "The fanbase is incredible for a step 3 football club.

"The celebrations after the wins were fantastic - it's why I joined the club in the first place.

"I really do hope they go on to be successful because I know, I understand what it means to those people that stand around those barriers."