Andy Coyles has taken his first managerial role at club level having taken charge at Penrith AFC. He is not, however, heading into the unknown.

After Saturday’s Northern League clash against Ryhope CW was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, the Bonny Blues appointed Coyles as first-team manager after the Whitehaven-born man had been the club’s interim manager following the departure of Kyle May last month.

Coyles has been with Penrith for almost exactly one year after he first linked-up with the club as first-team coach but the Northumbria University senior lecturer has his fair share of coaching experience under his belt already - also holding a role as England men’s University’s team head coach.

With the Frenchfield Park outfit currently bottom of Northern League Division One with one point from nine league fixtures ahead of tomorrow’s match at Newcastle Benfield, Coyles is realistic about the club’s ambitions.

“The idea isn’t to win every single game that we play this season because that certainly isn’t going to happen,” he admits. “But the idea is to stabilise things and look to improve and develop as much as we can for as long as we can.”

Several Bonny Blues players left Frenchfield Park on the back of May’s departure but Coyles, now assisted by former Workington Reds reserve manager Billy Redden, has managed to recruit well and also re-sign some more familiar faces. And he is hoping a new era will attract fans to come and support the club.

“It is a tough. But when an old manager leaves and a new manager comes in or when there’s evidence of a fresh start, that seems to excite supporters,” Coyles says.

“It gives them a new lease of life if you like. I have seen a difference in the last two weeks in terms of the amount of supporters that have come down to Frenchfield Park.

“The support has been absolutely brilliant over the last two weeks and I can’t thank them enough. The support before, during and after games has been phenomenal.

“I hope we can continue to entertain them, like we did with the recent nine-goal thriller [in the Cumberland Cup tie against Gosforth last Wednesday, which the Bonny Blues eventually won 5-4 after extra-time].”

Among those who have returned to Penrith in recent weeks, alongside their new signings, are captain Grant Davidson, midfielder Adam Main and former assistant manager Shaun Gardner.

He adds: “It is a new era, it’s a fresh start. Sometimes, you need that. The club itself is doing extremely well. The academy team are progressing extremely well and they are top of their league [Westmorland League Division Three].

“We are working well with their players, and two or three are now in and around our first-team. I have to applaud them for that. It’s an exciting time.

“I think every single player now is looking forward to the future, whereas a few weeks ago, if we lost games, we were saying we didn’t have enough quality to compete. Now if we lose, we can only blame ourselves for the mistakes that we make, or accept that we were beaten by the better team.

“I’m not going to promise instant success. I’m not going to promise win upon win. But we will set a good example for everyone in and around the first-team. Hopefully, we can do that in the near future.”

Perhaps predictably given his role with England Universities, Coyles is not afraid to give young players a chance.

“I’m very much for giving youth a chance. Really, age isn’t an issue with me,” he admits. “If they are good enough, they are old enough. I know it’s a cliché that people use but it’s true in my belief.

“If you take Jack Brown for example. He is 16, made his first-team debut against Stockton and made another appearance against Gosforth. He contributed and did exceptionally well.

“I’m not going to throw him in at the deep end and he’ll stay involved in the academy so he remains grounded. But he certainly one I look forward to working with.”

Even though Coyles accepts it will be far from easy to juggle his three roles, he believes that doing so will be manageable.

“My full-time job is at Northumbria University. That is a job I thoroughly enjoy, working with students,” he enthuses.

“But I also sound footballers out in that way. In terms of for scouting and recruiting, it works well in that way.

“The England University work only takes place three or four times a year, it’s not a weekly thing, so the Penrith role is manageable for me. I wouldn’t have taken it on if I didn’t think it was.

“It’s something I look forward to and will give everything I have until the end of the season.”