NEW Folland Sports boss Jay Keating is keen to steer the side in a different direction.

But he is highly respectful of the achievements of the men that preceded him at Follands Park.

He has nothing but admiration for the heart and hard graft Danny Bowers, Dave Lewis and the coaching staff devoted to transforming the Planemakers into a top-bracket Sydenhams Premier club.

“If I could do half the job to start with here that Danny and Dave did, I’d be very happy,” said the Poole-based 40-year-old, who has left his post running Dorchester Town’s reserves to take on a new challenge some 60 miles away.

Having previously worked under Phil Simkin at Hamworthy United, Keating is well versed with the Wessex League and, although he is breaking out of his comfort zone geographically, he already feels well at home in Hamble.

“It was quite a big thing for me to leave Dorchester, but Follands have made me feel so welcome,” he said.

“It’s a family environment and Follands is a proper club and not just a football team.

“It’s a multi-sport venue which brings everyone together and I’ll be getting the players to come in and watch the cricket team play before we train.”

With skipper Jamie Barron and goalkeeper Ryan Gosney snapped up by Winchester City and striker Ashley Jarvis seemingly heading for Salisbury, Keating knows he has a major rebuilding job on his hands.

But that was all part of the attraction when he and coaches Marc Scrimaglia and Sheriff Anjorin signed up for the post.

“The opportunity was there to staff the whole club, bring in the kind of people I want and do something a bit different,” he explained.

“Marc works for Southampton as an academy scout and runs one of their ID centres in Bournemouth. He did a bit of work with Hamworthy and brought in young players for Phil (Simkin). He and I get on really well.

“I know him from AFC Bournemouth from a long time ago. I played a bit for the Cherries youth team, until I smashed my knee, and helped coach the under-15s and 16s. We’ve always kept in touch.

“Quite a few Follands players have moved on, but we had a get-together a couple of weeks back with some youngsters and some of last season’s squad and there are a few tidy players there.

“We’ve got a couple coming up from Dorchester’s reserves and we’ll get some young players out of academies and give them a platform to play on. The Wessex is a very watched league.

“We’re looking at progressing players through the club and I’m sure one or two will move higher. The coaching the lads will get is going to be exceptional and we’re going to play passing football.

“My philosophy is to keep hold of the ball first half, make teams chase us, and then open them up in the second half when teams have got tired closing us down. You can’t win a game first half, but you can lose it if you go flat out.

"You tend to get the same players following managers around the Wessex circuit, but I've got the opportunity to help Follands go in a different direction with different players."