ANDY’S ALL WHITE!
After Chris Kinnear’s exit, Dover have recruited the services of Andy Hessenthaler from Eastleigh
YOU can take the man out of Kent, but you can’t take Kent out of the man.
It’s fair to say Andy Hessenthaler has made a pretty good career for himself in the Garden of England. Starting at Dartford, he went onto become a legend at his local Football League side Gillingham, making over 300 appearances for the Gills and going on to manage them on three separate occasions.
His latest foray in the manager’s hotseat, however, took him to Hampshire where he was beginning to make his mark as manager of Eastleigh, steering the Spitfires to a six-match unbeaten run to keep the club’s promotion dream alive.
But home is where the heart is they say and when Kent came calling again, Hessenthaler simply couldn’t ignore it.
Dover Athletic’s parting of ways with long-serving boss Chris Kinnear last week left a vacancy to fill at Crabble – and there was really only one man for the job!
Hessenthaler needs no introduction to the Whites faithful having enjoyed three successful years on the south-east coast, leading Dover to two successive promotions from Ryman Division One South to the Conference South, and within one play-off match of a third, into the top-flight.
Now, with the club lurking at the foot of the National League table with just one win to their name this season, Hessenthaler has answered the S.O.S of chairman Jim Parmenter – and is ready to write another page in club folklore.
“It was tough to leave Eastleigh but I know this is the right decision,” said the 53-year-old, who still lives in Kent, just outside Ashford.
“I have a young granddaughter here and a grandson on the way so that was the main reason for moving back, to be closer to them and the family.
“I was leaving home at 3.30am to get to Eastleigh for six and then stay three nights a week at a hotel. I didn’t mind the travelling, it’s what you have to do if you are going to do a proper job, but at least I can have a bit of a lay-in now!
“It was just a shame about the timing at Eastleigh. We’d won our last four, unbeaten in six with four clean sheets. The players were beginning to buy into what we were trying to do and I just hope they give my assistant Ben Strevens the opportunity to continue what we’ve started.
Memories
“It’s great to be back in Dover though. I have a lot of good memories from my first spell here but first and foremost we must keep the club in this division. “Chris [Kinnear] has done a fantastic job here over a long period of time but he’s lost a lot of goals from the team over the summer and he’s just not been able to replace them. It’s up to myself now to lift the players and get things back on track.” Indeed, Hessenthaler’s first job was to implement full-time training for the first-team squad with the former Watford and Barnet midfielder insisting the club’s future in the National League rides on it. Even though a number of players are on full-time contracts, the squad were training just two nights a week under Kinnear, but now Hessenthaler has warned his players that the time has come to shape up or ship out! “I don’t know a lot of these players so it’s a clean slate for a lot of them,” explained Hessenthaler, who wasted no time in bringing in Maidstone captain Stuart Lewis as his first signing on Thursday.
“Most of the players are on full-time contracts but were not training full-time, twiddling their thumbs during the day and training two nights a week.
“It will leave a couple with some tricky situations as there are some who have full-time jobs, but that’s the way it is here now. We needed to implement this change and the chairman has backed me.
“Training two nights a week is not enough in this league. There are a number of clubs, especially from the north, like Salford, Chesterfield and Harrogate who have invested a lot of money in their squad and players need to be fitter in order to compete.
“I believe this league is on par with League 2 right now so we need to be training four times a week to make sure we are right for a Saturday.”
So, with twothirds of the season to play, is Hessenthaler setting his sights high and thinking of a late burst to the play-offs?
“We have to take it a step at a time and the only target right now is to stay up,” he added. “We’ve got a lot to think about and a lot of work to do.
“The squad is too big as it stands so there will be players leaving the club, while I’ll be looking to pull in a few favours and bring in a few myself. It’s a good group but the players are on trial now, it’s up to them to impress.”
“TRAINING TWO NIGHTS A WEEK IS NOT ENOUGH IN THIS LEAGUE. PLAYERS NEED TO BE FITTER TO COMPETE”
– Andy Hessenthaler