Dominic Klose

Saturday 4th September, 2021 Kettering Town Vs AFC Fylde Latimer Park was just over a quarter full. The Red and Black colours of Kettering were spread throughout the ground, even in the areas that didn't have a single fan present. For National League North stands, this was a small victory as the league's minnows would be going up against the favourites to lift the title this season. Love them or hate them, Fylde have added a new dimension of competition to the division, even if many consider that the club are seeking to buy their way to the Football League. Still, we had an odd 750 fans supporting us today, compared to Fylde's 73 who made the journey to Northampton. Our new signing, Keith Asare, had complained of a slight pain in his right ankle on Wednesday. But I didn't think much of it then. I left it to the medical team to treat Keith and have him back in training when he was ready to do so. It came as a blow when Keith proceeded to twist his ankle in the pre match warm up. He wouldn't be able to start and it was likely that he'd be out of action for a number of weeks. There was no reason to panic however, as I called upon Connor Kennedy to make the step up. Prior to kick off I could tell that there was a degree of nerves surfacing within the dressing room. Considering we were up against top opposition, I settled the players by reminding them of their performance against Gloucester. Anything can be achieved, I added, and we have nothing to lose here. The first half was largely uneventful. Fylde fielded a lone striker, who was supported by former Blackpool and Queen of the South midfielder, Stephen Dobbie. Despite our opponents wasting a multitude of chances, I paced the touchline wondering why we were playing too many safe passes and not taking any risk by getting the ball forward and putting Fylde on the defensive. "This is too tame for my liking," Paul bellowed to me as we made our way to the dressing room at half-time, "Yep," I replied. "Okay lads, gather round," I said once everyone was inside the dressing room. "First, well done for holding your own. They have been wasteful and you've put their attacking players under pressure to make mistakes. However, I'm not pleased with what I'm seeing when we have the ball. They haven't been the biggest threat and we're failing to pounce and create chances of our own. We can do better. Search for those options and put Fylde to the sword." They all nodded in agreement, and club captain Connor Kennedy gathered the players into a huddle to discuss among themselves. When we tried to apply any pressure on Fylde, they bunkered down and waited patiently for us to make a mistake. They were able to capitalise on such a mistake in the 70th minute when Ben Toillit was able to beat his marker and send the ball past Jasper Kennedy and into the net, giving Fylde the late lead. "For god... right. Get Callum on and pull Jon off," I said to Paul. The change proved to be the game changer. In in 77th minute Callum Stead was able to connect to an overhead pass launched by Jay Mingi and smash the ball past the Fylde keeper. The home stand erupted in cheers. 1-1. The icing on the cake came nine minutes later as Stead took the ball past his marker and darted towards the opposition end, forcing the Fylde keeper to commit to going left or right. He went the wrong way and Stead lobbed the ball over and into the net. I swung around towards the bench pumping my fists in the air. We'd managed to pull off a stunning comeback against superior opposition. "You have a silver tongue, Dom," Paul said. "That or the lads are afraid of the talk down I was going to give them." I chuckled, reflecting that it was now two wins out of two.

"Okay, so what did we take away from our trip to Gloucester?" I asked the room. "Well, aside from the fact that Saul has a belter of a right foot, Brown could present an issue for us if he doesn't step up. That penalty was the latest in a series of mistakes," Paul said. "True. To both," I chuckled. "Though Alex did close down his man effectively and, aside from the penalty mistake, he did win the majority of his tackles. It could be that he panicked when he was thrown under the bus in that mix up in the box leading to the penalty." "Even so," Paul added, "He needs to focus more. We need to get his mindset in the right gear. "Okay," I said as I turned to our coach, Joe Simpson. "Do you think you can get him to the required standards that we expect?". Joe gave a quick nod and that was the end of that conversation. "Good. Going forward I'm going to be sticking with our recent formation for the next round of fixtures." "Makes sense," Paul said. " Playing Decarrey Sheriff upfront alone hasn't yielded huge returns as of late." I nodded in agreement. "Plus it looks like we'll not be seeing any increase in our budgets until January at the earliest," I added. "Well, unless these take over rumours are true," Paul said. "What was the latest rumour, Joe?" "That a consortium of businessman in Asia had asked for a period of exclusivity," Joe responded, before letting out a laugh. Everyone around the table had a good chuckle. "Well, until the day a rich sugar daddy comes swooping in, we have to work with what we have," I said. My focus of the meeting then switched to the topic of our youth academy. Ishmael Miller, a former West Brom and Nottingham Forest forward, had been hired to manage the Under-18s and some promising reports had begun to hit my inbox regarding two players. "We have two players who I believe can make the grade in the next season or two, and we should explore the possibility of contracts for them," Ishmael said. "Who are the two players in contention," I asked. "Paul Braithwaite and Frazer Knibbs," responded Ishmael. "Paul is very level headed, and has put in consistent performances at the centre of midfield. Definitely has the attributes to make a name for himself in the National League. As for Frazer, well the kid is ambitious. Have never seen someone belt his teammates so much over errors made on the pitch. Plus he's still growing and could be a real asset as a back-up option next season." "Okay, let's get the paperwork drawn up. Paul, have a sit down with Kian to draw up loan plans for the two when January comes around." "On it boss," Paul said, pushing his chair back. "And unless anyone else has something to add, we have a training session to oversee."

KETTERING SIGN THREE AHEAD OF NATIONAL LEAGUE CAMPAIGN Kettering Town have signed midfielders Keith Asare, Jay Mingi and Harvey Sayer a week before their National League North campaign kicks off. The trio of players become Dominic Klose's first signings since taking the helm at Latimer Park, with many fans seeing the new arrivals as a sign of intent from the novice manager. Asare, 20, arrives at the club on a one-year contract following his release from EFL Championship side Nottingham Forest. Despite never making an appearance for the First Team, Asare featured regularly for the Academy sides. Both Mingi, 20, and Sayer, 18, have penned one-year loan deals at Latimer Park from Portsmouth & Colchester United respectively. "The lads are all versatile players, who are keen to learn and contribute and will prove to be strong additions to our squad," Klose said to the Northamptonshire Telegraph. "We've taken our time to identify the right players; the players who will have the desire, positive impact that we are looking for. Kettering Town kick off their National League North campaign at home to Bradford Park Avenue next Saturday. - Monday, 30th August, 2021 - Gloucester, England The dressing room felt incredibly claustrophobic. It probably didn't help that the entirety of the club's staff, and the players who wouldn't be featuring in tonight's game, were all crammed into the away changing room. But that didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Installing a one-team culture required such methods, and I wasn't going to let any of my standards slip. Now came the needed talk... "Okay lads. Tonight's opposition is no joke," I belted out, as the changing room fell silent. "I know we earned some credible draws against Bradford and Gateshead, but that performance against Farsley was disappointing. You know that, I know that, but we move on. We improve. And we do that tonight!" I then proceeded to go over tonight's line-up, detailing the roles I expected everyone one to adopt and perform. I then passed over the talk to my assistant, Paul Bastock. He proceeded to go over the notes on tonight's opposition and to get the players motivated. I honestly don't know what I was hoping for: a win would be a joy but we were going up against one of the favourites this season. I guess a solid performance, win or lose, would be grand. I then proceeded to round off the talk. "Remember. Work hard and play hard. And remember, there are 75 Kettering fans out there tonight so acknowledge them. Wave and thank them for coming down to support us! Let's go!" The dressing room became all hustle and bustle. The players lined up for final boot checks by the referee and the coaching team made their way to the dugout. I gave myself a few moments before following the coaching team. - 88th Minute - Meadow Lane, Gloucester, England "If that mistake from Alex cost us the win, I swear to god..." "Easy," I said. Paul had been absolutely livid when Alex Brown had given away a penalty to the hosts. It was a silly challenge, stupid even. But we still had a few more minutes on the clock. The stern talking to for Alex could come later. For now, there was still a glimmer of hope to salvage our first win of the season. "We've still got some time. Anything is possible. And Gloucester have been weaker in the central areas. Our lads are exploiting it." Before I could hear Paul's retort, we glimpsed the fourth official signalling that five minutes of added time would be in play. "Okay," I said. "Let's go all out. Let's force their hand!" Paul knew what I meant. He began hurling a torrent of instructions towards the lads on the pitch. Some was inaudible. But his passion really shone. He knew how vital a win would be when it came to boosting our morale. I took a seat. All I could do was dwell on the possibility of a fourth straight draw in the National League. Four points from a possible twelve wouldn't be disastrous but it would start raising eyebrows if I was truly capable of steering this club towards stability. I continued to dwell on my thoughts until I saw the entire Kettering bench jump from their seats in frustration. I joined them to witness what had happened. "Damn right it's a free kick. He's lucky he hasn't been sent off," Paul said as he reached down to pick up a water bottle. I looked down the pitch to see that we had a free kick from the edge of the Gloucester penalty area. Saul Milovonovic stepped up to take the set piece. All I could do was crouch and watch with my hands planted firmly around my mouth. Paul opted to plant a hand on my shoulder and look on. Milovonovic struck the ball and it sizzled over the head of the Gloucester keeper, rattling the net and sending the players and 75 fans into an uproar. I firmly hugged Paul as the coaching staff mobbed us in celebration. "What a strike!" I roared. "It was a beauty," Paul screamed back. Soon after, the ref blew for full time and we had our first win of the season. Gathering the players and staff, we all moved towards to the stand housing our fans and applauded them for their support throughout a tense 90 minutes of football. I sighed, knowing we had sealed a vital win to really kick off our campaign.

Thursday, 1st July, 2021 - 12:30pm "Well, it's finally nice to put a name to the face, Dominic," David Mahoney said, grasping my hand in a firm handshake. For a chairman, he was fairly jovial but the years of overseeing a football club was visible. "Lovely to meet you," I said as I smiled and shook his hand. David ushered me into the board room and proceeded to introduce me to the other three figures in the room. Sat around the table were Ken Samuel and Neil Griffin, both Directors at the club. And at the centre, sat next to a vacant seat was the owner of the club, Ritchie Jeune. Mr Jeune's name had rung a bell during the car journey here, as I briefly remembered his name, among many, being mentioned in articles that had attacked the National League Board over funding issues during the course of the Covid-19 Pandemic. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintances, gentlemen", I said, taking a seat at the far end of the table. "I hope the journey down was pleasant. Have you had time to take in Kettering, Dominic?" Ritchie asked. "Not yet," I replied. "I've only just recently returned from a trip to the Shetlands so, to say that the past 24 hours have been a whirlwind would be an understatement." "Well, given enough time you can no doubt get settled in with the town," Ken said. "Indeed," I responded. "Well then, shall we get down to business," Ritchie said, motioning his hand towards David. "Yes," David said. "So, to address the elephant in the room, we understand that this would be your first foray into management, yes?" "Yes," I said in agreement. "Though it will not be my first experience of sitting in the dugout, as I was able to serve as a coach and start with my coaching badges whilst seeing out the winter of my career in Austria." Sitting back in his chair, Bill interjected. "Interesting," he said. "I'd heard that your time in Austria was riddled with injuries. What made you take the plunge into coaching?" Tapping my glass of water, it took me a moment to collect my words. "Because I was asked too. Because I felt that I could still contribute towards the outcome of results for Austria Wien and because it had always been an ambition of mine to start getting my coaching badges. The club had a plethora of young talent and, given my experience in the game, both the highs and lows, I believed I could have been an asset." I then proceeded to tell the board of my experiences in club football; how I started out in the youth academy of my hometown club, Dundee United before being picked up by Nottingham Forest. I told them of the impact of what first team football had on me, both physically and mentally. How a few solid performances in my breakout season with Forest led to the club selling me to Werder Bremen of Germany. I explained how much fun it was, initially, of moving to a new country but how I regressed after being frozen out of the first team and sent out on a series of loans, ultimately signing for Austria Wien on a Bosman before enduring a series of injuries during the prime of my career. I summarised that, despite the injuries, I had learned so many things under great managers and how I came to believe in my own mantra, 'Personality and mentality, then performance.' "I'm sorry, I would love to delve deeper into that mantra of yours," David asked. "Certainly," I responded. "Performance is the key factor in securing results in football. But that can't be achieved if the players personalities and mental states aren't in the right frame. Take me for instance, every time I returned from injury I didn't feel my whole self; sometimes I'd just be waiting for the next blow to strike me. At non-league level, we have players who have dropped down from as far as the Premier League - which, for many of them, can feel like the end of the road. So it's vital that I focus on these two aspects as not only will it drive up performance, but it builds up a culture of purpose at the football club." They all nodded and smiled. "Look, I want to stay as involved in football as I possibly can," I said. "Do I have what it takes to be a manager: absolutely. I'm desperate to showcase my skills and develop my methods." "Do you think you can turn the club into a stable National League North team during the course of your proposed tenure?" David asked. "The trick to making any club stable is by ensuring we have a club culture that players dropping down from the divisions can not only buy into, but also contribute too. Then, I believe, the pieces will all fall into place." "And coming back to club culture," Ritchie said, "what would you bring to the Kettering dressing room?" I reflected, all for a brief moment, before I gave my response. "Marcelo Bielsa once said that attitude will determine the success of a football club. As a coach, we can only motivate so far. The rest must come from the players. Train hard. Play hard. But attitude comes first. It comes with a commitment to what the football club intends to achieve. I can motivate. I can be a father figure. But I will be the manager that installs the attitude needed to bring success to this club, be it through trophies or steady progression in the league." The four of them looked at each other. "Is there anything else you'd like me to speak about?" I asked. "No," David said. "I think that just about concludes the interview." I sighed. "So, can we show you the stadium and the training facilities?" Ritchie asked, pushing his chair back from the table.

"Dom! Dom! DOM!" I could see Martin jumped up and down, his hands flapping about in the air as I exited the station. "How was the journey down? Uneventful I hope." "Surprisingly peaceful," I replied. "How are you, Martin?" "Yes. Good, I'm good. Yes. A little nervous, but good. Come, this way." He grabbed my travel-bag and ushered me towards the car with his remaining free arm. It was a warm summer day but seeing the beads of sweat on Martin's forehead suggested he was more unnerved than usual. Approaching the car - an Audi A3 - I could see Martin had already gone to the trouble of sourcing a lovely suit, very much out of my price range! "Navy blue suit, no tie. My, my Martin, how very European of you," I remarked. "Oh shut it," he said, with a smirk on his face. "Unlike you, I know that a degree of style and class can sell you to nearly everyone. So, please hurry and go and change. There should be a facility in the station." "Lovely," I remarked. "I'll go grab us some coffees for the road. Meet back here in a few minutes." Within minutes we were barrelling down the A6 towards Kettering. "Exciting, isn't it," Martin said. "I guess," I replied. "So, have you followed the club's exploits of late?" he asked. "I only know that they came back up to the National League North a few seasons back, and have managed to keep their status in the league, which I guess deserves some credit." "Well, I think it's a damn miracle. Considering newly promoted clubs do not survive so long in that tier. And, given that Kettering are a club not flush for cash means that they have performed some miracles along the way. But I guess a great deal of their effort has been placed in their recruitment." "So what exactly are they looking for now?" I asked. "I guess they're on the look out for a manager who can steady the ship. One who can make progress both on and off the pitch and not complain too much at the miniscule budgets they have in place." Martin briefly sighed before continuing. "Look, I'm not going to lie. Kettering isn't the Manchester of football, but it's an opportunity. To grow, develop and build your reputation. Covid did a number on many football clubs over the past two years, and now everyone in the game has had to adapt." "I know. And this could be exciting." "That's the spirit. Now reach into the back of the car. There's a folder with all your talking points." As the car continued along the A6 I read over my talking points, remembering the importance of this interview.

"Dominic, what the hell is wrong with you? You haven't been returning my calls! Nor any of my texts or emails! I've been trying to reach you for nearly a week now! "No signal," I replied. "Oh, don't try to be funny. You're speaking right now so that whole 'no signal' argument is BS! I'm getting slaughtered here. How can I best represent your interests if you won't communicate with me?" "No, seriously, I had no signal." "Okay. Whatever. We're speaking now, which is the most important thing. Now, time is of the essence so how soon can you get on over to Leicester?" "That could take some time." "Why?" "I just landed back from the Shetlands, hence why I had no signal but you still proceeded to scream at me." "Why were you all the way out in the Shetlands?" "Peace of mind. That and retirement has been slow going. Plus sitting around the house was driving me nuts." "So you decided you have a mini-crisis in the Shetlands. Dom, I love you but you need to get your act together! I mean, do you want to get back into the game? If so, you need to get down here pronto!" "My my, age hasn't made you any less pushy Martin! Who exactly wants my services? I got my basic coaching badges nearly 18-months ago but no one opted to bite. What's changed?" "A lot has changed. Plenty of clubs have regressed due to the Pandemic and, like you, are in a period of suffering. So I guess you both have mutually shared interests. Plus this club will be a great first step into management!" "Okay. You have my attention. Who is it?" "Kettering" "Non-League eh," I spoke out loud. "That could be worth a punt." "The only downside is that you would have to relocate to Northampton, but I think I'd be doing you a favour! Time to get you out of your period of exile from Scotland!" "Sounds ideal enough," I replied. "I just need to get myself to Edinburgh and hop on the next train. Maybe stop by somewhere first to clean myself up." "How long will this likely take, Dom?" "Set up the interview for the day after next." "I'll meet you in Leicester on Thursday then. I'll have a car and a suit lined up. Because I'm not going to let you screw up this opportunity." After the phone hung up I sighed. Gazing out across the highland countryside I could only think of the possibilities that this opportunity represented.