CHAIRMAN Dave Kitson admits his latest managerial appointment at Arlesey Town is his most important yet – but insists he was never going to be part of the equation.
Kitson, the former Reading, Stoke City and Cambridge United striker, has this week filled the vacant hotseat at the Armadillo Stadium after popular boss Nick Brown moved upstairs to work as the club’s director of football.
Former Dulwich Hamlet coach Tommy Cooney is the man chosen to take the reins – and his first job in managment couldn’t be tougher with the Blues having won just three of their opening 15 games in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division.
Relegation to Step 6 would be a catastrophic fall for a club who were playing Step 3 football just a decade ago and have twice reached the first round of the FA Cup.
With that in mind, you may think it a surprise to see Kitson reach out to a 28-year-old rookie boss, but to those who know the former Premier League striker’s footballing philosophy, Cooney’s appointment fits the bill perfectly.
Kitson himself is regarded as one of the top coaches of young players in the Home Counties with his Reading-based Dave Kitson Academy having already making its mark in the development of a number of top young players, including recently from the likes of the USA, Ireland and New Zealand.
But despite himself ticking all the boxes to suit his own agenda, the 43-year-old insists he never thought about taking the job and insists his focus never waned from finding the right man to take the club forward.
“Management have never really been for me,” Kitson, who played over 400 games in the Premier League and Football League, told The NLP.
“I remember I got offered the Oxford United job completely out of the blue when Chris Wilder left. I actually talked myself out of that one!
“Coaching is my passion, especially in academies. For me, there’s nothing like taking a young player through a training drill and seeing them absolutely nail it! You just can’t bottle that feeling up! It’s the same with hiring a young manager really.
“That��
