Leese sees ‘an opportunity’ as he settles into role as new Poppies boss

That was Andy Leese’s response when the new Kettering Town manager was asked what kind of style the supporters can expect as a new era dawns at Latimer Park.

The vastly-experienced boss was officially unveiled as the successor to Lee Glover yesterday (Wednesday) in what was the first appointment made by the club’s new management committee.

Leese arrives at Kettering having left Isthmian League Premier Division side Enfield Town at the end of last season following a six-year stint. He had previously been the manager at Chesham United for 11 seasons.

Now the 60-year-old has been tasked with leading the Poppies into their 2023/24 campaign in the Southern League Premier Central following relegation from the Vanarama National League North.

Leese sees the job as “an opportunity” and it’s one he is determined to grasp.

“The club is in a transitional period,” the new Poppies manager said.

“But you still see the name and the history of the club. Whatever it is going through, it’s still a big club, which is incredibly well supported.

“I see an opportunity. I’m not going to sit here and talk about restoring former glories. But I see an opportunity to change the mentality, to start with.

“I want to get things as professional as I can and there is a group of players who are not used to winning at the moment and I need to put together a mindset and a cultural shift that is reflective of the club and the size that it is.

“All I will say is that I like to play winning football, however that comes.

“I understand the league and I understand the teams we are going to come up against.

“We will set up to try to play and play in the right areas but there will be days and times when you won’t be able to do that so we will have to be adaptable and flexible as a unit and, again, that will have an impact on who we bring in when it comes to recruitment.

“It’s all about winning. Yes, I’d love to sit here and entertain and hopefully we can have some fun in the cups along the way but I’m here to try to win games.”

Leese confirmed he did apply for the position at Latimer Park after taking stock for a short time following his departure from Enfield - a club he left in ninth place in the top tier of the Isthmian League last season having guided them to a play-off place in the previous campaign.

“I came out of Enfield Town at the end of the season,” he added.

“I’ll be honest, for the first couple of weeks I was a little bit unsure of what I wanted to do and whether I was going to stay in the game.

“But this is what I know and what I love and I started to look around.

“This opportunity came up quite late so I put my details forward to Ken (club president Samuel) and I got a call pretty much instantaneously.

“I knew it would be a difficult job to try to land because of the stature of the club but here I am.

“So yes, I did apply for it. It suits me geographically. It’s coming north from where I live.

“I am just absolutely delighted to be here.”