I'VE GOT THAT FIRE BACK IN MY BELLY

Poppies have given Cox his mojo back

- David Richardson

PAUL COX thought he would never manage again – but Kettering Town has reinvigorated his love for the game and now the only way is up.

The man who led Mansfield Town into the Football League didn’t want a return to the dugout following a difficult spell at Guiseley.

But when an opportunity arose at the struggling Poppies – a club Cox played 100 times for – the 48-year-old jumped at the chance.

“I never saw myself coming back into the game,” Cox admitted to The NLP. “I think after the Guiseley fiasco I said to myself I didn’t really want to manage anymore.

“But, little by little, that fire in my belly came back. I think I owed it to myself to get back into it, it’s not just the winning, it’s the problem solving when you lose that I enjoy.

“I don’t want to stand still now, I feel energised after taking a bit of break away from the game. I feel like I’m on a beginning of what will be a lovely journey.”