Football Season Guide

Kettering have experienced a turbulent summer and an interesting season is once again guaranteed for the Poppies fans. They had a reasonable campaign last year when Marcus Law steered them to a safe finish with an eclectic mix of young players who did well to stave off any relegation threat. Yet, Law decided that another year of dealing with the irritable chairman Imraan Ladak and his cost-cutting measures is too much to bear in the light of interest from Tamworth and took the job with the Lambs. Ladak turned to old friend Morrell Maison who accepted the job and became a Kettering manager on full-time basis for a second time after his spell in 2005/06 season. He also preceded Law last year for a short spell as interim boss but now crucially will work with former Kettering player Nicky Eaden who will be his assistant. The main news around Kettering was not that though but the fact that they will play in a new ground in the upcoming season - that of rivals Rushden & Diamonds who were wound up in the summer due to excessive debts. Kettering have been looking for a new place to play given that the lease of Rockingham Road has just two years left on it and will not be renewed. The demise of the Diamonds and the opportunity that arose from it was too good for Ladak to pass. He will be hoping that fans show up in numbers in the new ground as Kettering are definitely bound to entertain with the explosive Maison in charge. Their signings have generated excitement too - most notably the one of Real Madrid trainee Jaime Navaro who had trials at Bolton and Leyton Orient before signing for the Poppies. Ladak is again following the well-trotted path of offering big wages to new players in the summer before releasing them all midway through the campaign due to wage cutting - something that has happened for two years in a row now. There is little evidence to suggest that the chairman will not try the trick again and just hope of a big money-spinning FA Cup game guaranteeing the budget for the rest of the season. Still, players like David Bridges and Djoumin Sangare are definitely at a pretty good level for this division while Jerel and Phil Ifil joined up too to boost the defence. Kettering will definitely be worth a follow this season on and off the pitch and it is anyone's guess where they will finish at the end of the season but anything above a lower mid-table will be quite a surprise for such an unstable club that regularly goes through at least a couple of crises every season.