MIKE Walton says he and the club want the ‘same things’ after agreeing to become the new joint first-team manager at Launceston.

The Clarets’ board were left shocked by the departure of Gary Jeffery recently, but acted swiftly to appoint Walton to work alongside last year’s assistant, Mark Blake.

Explaining his decision to agree to the job, Walton, who comes from Plymouth and has worked in the military for over 30 years, said: “My son Jordan played in the Southern League for Barnstaple and Mark and Jordan worked together.

“When Jordan didn’t have a game for Barnstaple last season he played a few times for Launceston and I used to watch them.

“So Mark and I along with Gary had plenty of football chats, and when Mark found out that Gary was taking a new direction, Mark asked if I’d be interested in working with him and looking at things, we both have strengths which are beneficial to becoming a unit.

“After Mark spoke to me and I spoke to Bear (Keith Ellacott), I realised we wanted the same things. Gary has left the team in a very healthy state and that allows the players to play for the love of it and not the finances.”

Walton believes that their differing qualities make them an ideal team.

He said: “Mark is a brilliant coach and tactician and he finds it very pleasing to be able to focus his efforts on what he finds rewarding himself, while I’m focusing more on the commercial, business and motivational side of things. Coming from the military I find it really easy to motivate people.

“The team selection will be done between us and I’ll look after the admin side of things as well as going out to local events and being around to talk to the people around the club and gage their opinions.

“I’ll also tell the players to go out and express yourself but most importantly enjoy yourself.

“What’s also important from my side is that the players understand the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes at the club which is voluntary. They need to understand these side of things.”

After last year’s seventh-placed finish in the Carlsberg South West Peninsula League Premier Division, both men have their work cut out to ensure improvement, however the goals remain high.

However Walton, who has coached at Ivybridge Town and Plymouth Parkway, said: “The squad is in a really positive way. Some players have left and good luck to them but we’ve wanted to add players who will add a lot to the dressing room and want to play for the club and we have also reached out to some of the reserve players.

“We’ve brought in the likes of centre-back Joe Smith, goalkeeper Tom Watson and full-back Alex Shopland into the squad. It’s important that people feel that it’s a whole club and that we don’t have separate teams.

“We’ve also brought in five new players. We’ve got Tom Savigar (central midfielder), who was on the books of Newport County and has moved back to the area with his parents, Tallan Mitchell who was at Barnstaple and also plays in midfield, my son Jordan who is a striker or left winger, my nephew Rhys who is a striker and played for Saltash last season both in the firsts and seconds and defensive midfielder Michael Burke, who is a bit older and gives us some experience.

“We’re very happy with the build up of the squad. We have a good core of about 18 players and for us it’s not all about the starting 11, it’s about having a really good squad.

“There’s always room for new additions if the if the right player comes available.”

However the Clarets have lost the likes of centre-half Josh McCabe and attacker Jack Alexander to Torpoint Athletic, midfielder Scott Blatchford and Chris Head and Liam Tilley, who have both provisionally retired.

However the new recruits have gelled well. They beat Plymstock United from the league below 4-1 before drawing 2-2 at last year’s South West Peninsula League Premier Division champions Plymouth Parkway, who have gone up to the Western League.

Walton said: “Mark has put in some new formations and thoughts in the players’ heads and how we want to become a passing team. We’ve been working on the areas which will make us exciting to watch as well as play in and making sure we’re even more difficult to beat.

“We need to defend as a team and when we attack we want to use all of our outfield players, not just our strikers. We want everyone involved to play good football to get us in the right areas of the pitch.

“Our aspirations for the season are for a top-six finish and to have a good run in a cup.

“We want to take another step in the building of Launceston.

“We’re on a really good foundation but I want to support the committee and try and take us onto the next level.

“I think we can take the football club forward without setting targets which are too difficult.”