Poppies owner Akhtar praises McDonald after manager's Latimer Park departure
George Akhtar has confirmed that it was solely Liam McDonald's decision to walk away from his role as Kettering Town boss on the eve of the new season.
The Poppies start the new Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central campaign with a home date against Alvechurch on Saturday (ko 3pm), and they will do that with Nick Green and David Bridgewater in charge.
That's because the club announced McDonald's departure last Friday, with the manager stepping down after just 10 months in charge.
The former Stourbridge boss is facing a Football Association investigation into betting allegations from his time in charge at Redditch United 10 years ago, and he has now made the decision to step away from his role at Latimer Park.
Akhtar and the hierarchy at the Poppies were obviously aware of the allegations, but the owner insisted his decision to walk away was all McDonald's.
"There is no hidden news about what Liam is going through at the moment, with the ongoing investigations and so on," Akhtar told BBC Northampton's Non-League Scene.
"Liam came forward and said 'look, my head's not in the right space, it's not fair to continue like this with the season just around the corner'.
"He felt that is was right to do this now and give the club, Greeny and Bridgy and the players the best chance going into the new season.
"We found out in the week, Liam then told the players and we then broke the news to our inner group, so it did comes as a shock to all of us.
"But first and foremost, for us it is about making sure that Liam's well-being is intact and we are here to support him, because it can't be an easy thing to go through what he is going through."
And he added: "Believe me, if I could I would have wanted Liam to stay on.
"This is Liam's decision, and we have to respect it.
"I know it's not what people want to hear, but because of the investigation we have to respect the confidentiality aspect of things, and be really careful with what we say.
"But it was Liam's decision and it is a hard one to take.
"I have been emotional, I know a lot of the fans were emotional, and the committee members have been emotional when the news broke."
McDonald leaves the Poppies in a far stronger position than when he took over in the wake of the ill-fated short spell in charge of Simon Hollyhead last October.
He quickly turned the team's fortunes around and saw them reach the pay-offs for a second successive season, only to lose at Real Bedford in the semi-finals.
And Akhtar wanted to praise the 41-year-old for his hard work at Latimer Park.
"Let's not forget the incredible work Liam did last year," said Akhtar.
"He picked up the baton when Simon left and we were floating around between mid-table and relegation.
"I think we got 21 victories out of 26, and only the champions Harborough got a better return than we did.
"So what Liam did, what the backroom staff and players did last season was incredible, and that has given us more hope going into this new season."