Ottery St Mary will be led for the first time on Saturday (January 23), by a new manager, with Dave Fairweather the man in charge, writes Steve Birley.

Fairweather has taken over after the resignation of Otters boss Mike Dawe, who oversaw the team’s 3-0 win last weekend over Beer Albion Reserves.

Fairweather could not have had a tougher start for he must oversee the Otters taking on high flying, unbeaten Uplowman.

The villagers will pitch up at Washbrook Meadow with an impressive ‘played five and won five’ away record this season.

Fairweather says: “To be honest this is not the game that I would have chosen to make my bow as first team boss! Uplowman are the epitome of a well-organised team and the fact that they are unbeaten this term speaks volumes for the way they go about their business.”

He continued: “The obvious problem I have is to quickly get a team together that can continue the fabulous work that Mike (Dawe) did with them. Most of the lads have stuck with it, though we are left with two or three being unavailable for the Uplowman game. That said, we’ll field a side that I feel will give Uplowman a game. The situation the first team are currently in is one that does give us a very real chance of getting a second successive promotion.”

The club have appointed Ash Connett to take on the second team that Fairweather was previously managing.

Fairweather says: “We’ll run this very simply. Ash (Connett) and I will get our heads together after training each week and set about making sure that the club fields two teams capable of getting the right result.”

New Ottery St Mary manager Dave Fairweather is very clear about how he wants to take the Otters forward.

The new man in charge says: “I am keen for the two teams at the club to operated as one. I firmly belive that with integration comes a better club and, with that in mind, I am keen for the second team to feel just as much part of the club as the first team star players.”

He continued: “Mike (Dawe) has begun something here and I see it as my duty to complete his work, which always was to ultimatley see the club playing at the highest level it can.

“We have some very talented players here and if we can all buy into the same way of thinking then we can be successful - of that I have no doubt!”

Fairweather spoke of his desire to see more players attend regular training.

He said: “In midweek we had eight of the team who will be involved tomorrow at training and that augers well for the future. Eight on parade is good, but I’d like to see a 100 per cent turnout as I belive firmly in the old footballing maxim of ‘games are won on the training ground’ and without hard work and committment you will not achieve what you want to do!”