MARK Tallentire admits he is itching to get started having been appointed the new first-team manager at Burnham FC on Monday.

Tallentire’s arrival comes as part of a fresh restructure at the club following relegation from the Southern Premier Division last season.

Dave Mudge has returned to The Gore as general manager to assist Byron Walton, who will act as events and hospitality manager.

The pair will spearhead The Blues off the pitch with chairman Gary Reeves, while Tallentire controls matters on the pitch.

Tallentire, an ex-Burnham player, believes it is important to stabilise the club after a extremely poor season.

And he is confident that his methods, which proved so successful at former employers Binfield FC, will prove to be a hit with The Blues.

Speaking to The Observer, he said: “I’m very much in charge of the football side of things here and I am itching to get started.

“I will leave all the other stuff to the guys in the background to concentrate on, and that’s the way it should be in football.

“It’s crucial that you have people in their stations and I just can’t wait to get going now.

“Burnham is not a new challenge for me and, after the last two years, I would probably say that they would want to stabilise things.

“I think that’s my first remit of the job, to get a stable squad and look after what goes on out on the pitch.

“What goes on behind the scenes I can’t control, that’s down to the others, but I can control what happens out on the pitch.

“I’m determined to put together a side that’s going to compete and I’ve got certain philosophies that I will be carrying on.

“Sometimes it’s horses for courses. You can play a fast-flowing game or dig in and grind results out.

“It’s just about getting that balance right and I’m looking forward to doing it.” Tallentire comes with a great track record and from a solid non-league background, a large part of which has been spent managing in the local area.

He commented: “I’ve been fortunate enough to play and manage my boyhood club which was Bracknell Town, and did good things with them.

“I only went to Binfield to help a friend out for a bit, but ended up staying there for six years and it was a successful time.

“The place I walked out of is a whole lot different to the place that I walked into.

“That’s not just down to me, it’s a credit to the fantastic people that work at Binfield.

“They’ve got a fantastic group of people that help run that club, and I’ve got nothing but good things to say about it.

“They are close to my heart but I think I quite possibly stayed there a season too long if truth be known.” Tallentire believes he is the right man to stabilise Burnham, and that he is not, ‘jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire’.

He insisted: “I’m pretty sure that my football philosophies and methods will work we well at this level as they have at Binfield.

“I’m not worried about the smell of defeat. The past is the past and there’s nothing you can do about it.

“It’s what’s in front of you that’s important, and it’s down to me to get things right on the pitch.

“That’s my remit here and I will be sticking to that and working as hard as I possibly can to make that successful.

“I would say to stabilise the situation is probably first and foremost in everybody’s mind, but you never know.

“If you get a decent enough squad together and you start winning games it changes things for any football manager.

“For me it’s what happens out on the pitch and not the Coronation Street adventures of the boardroom.

“I will set myself personal targets but I think we’ve got to look at what has gone on in the past.

“I came and watched a couple of games here and the smell of defeat was rife. You walked into the place and just knew things weren’t right.

“I’ve just got to put my personal goals to one side for the moment, for me it’s about getting a side out that is competitive.

“And like any other manager I will be looking to get off to a good start in the league. That generally decides how well you’re going to do.

“But that’s two or three months away yet and we’ve got lots of pre-season games arranged, which I will need to have a look at players.

Tallentire continued: “The pitch is being relayed which is fantastic because at the minute it needs a little bit of work doing to it.

“If you want to have an attractive side then that surface has to be right.

“That’s going to happen in the summer and I’m really excited about getting on and doing it.

“I think the summer is an important time for any football club and managers because that’s when you do most of your recruiting.

“I won’t be any different for me. I will be trying to get a good group of players here for pre-season training.” **PICK up a copy of The Observer, out now, for all the latest sports news and action** **FOLLOW The Observer on Twitter at @Observer_sports**