Richard Lavery named new Kettering Town boss hours before crucial Leamington clash

Richard Lavery has been named the new manager of Kettering Town

Former assistant boss Richard Lavery is the new man in charge, and becomes the Poppies' third manager in the space of just four months, and their fourth since last summer, replacing Jim Le Masurier who will remain as part of the coaching team.

Le Masurier had only been in charge at Latimer Park since November, stepping up from assistant manager to replace the sacked Andy Leese, who took over last summer following Lee Glover's departure.

But the former Kettering player struggled to breathe any life into the team, and the Poppies remain in serious relegation trouble at the foot of the table, just four points above the drop zone.

The announcement of the managerial change was made just after 11am on Saturday, with the Poppies set to face high-flying Leamington at 3pm.

A brief statement on the club's official website read: "The club wish to announce a change in the first team management structure.

"Richard Lavery has returned to the club as first team manager and will be assisted by Jim Le Masurier and Tom Cherry.

"Poppies fans will remember Richard as assistant manager during our promotion winning season of 18/19.

"We hope you will give him a very warm welcome at Latimer Park today."

Lavery was assistant to Marcus Law when won the Evo-Stik League South Premier Central title by a massive 14 points to win promotion back to the Vanarama National League North.

But his focus for the remaining matches of this season will very much be focused on avoiding relegation.

The shock news comes just days after Le Masurier made two signings to bolster the Poppies squad.

Those players are Norwich City under 21 Academy player Michael Reindorf and King's Lynn's Kobe Chong, with both players attacking midfielders.