The moving message from Kelvin Langmead’s final Banbury United interview
Just before his departure, Kelvin Langmead admitted he had been beginning to question himself amid Banbury United’s poor start to the season.
The Puritans recruited heavily in the summer and that process has continued in the past few weeks, with over a dozen new signings coming through the doors at the TUGO Community Stadium.
Langmead had been central to Banbury’s recruitment and the former Northampton Town and Shrewsbury defender hoped his decisions would result in some serious progression after successive 12th-placed finishes.
But the Puritans have instead slumped into Southern League Premier Central relegation contention, with two of their three wins so far coming against the bottom two teams in the division: Leighton Town and Stamford AFC.
The other victory was all the way back in mid-August against local rivals Racing Club Warwick.
At that point, Langmead was feeling hopeful. However, more recently, after a host of inconsistent results, the manager had been lacking self-belief.
After what turned out to be his final match in charge, a 3-0 defeat at home to Worcester City, Langmeda was asked by Puritans Live whether he was starting to question himself.
Langmead replied: “Of course I am. Through my whole career, I’ve always given everything and sometimes it’s not been enough.
“I have no problem holding my hands up that when you throw everything at something, whether that’s playing or managing or outside of football, sometimes you just fall short.
“And I’m falling short at the moment. In sport, when things aren’t going well, there’s of course that voice in the back of your head telling you that you’re not good enough.”
With a home game against 20th-placed Leamington and a derby visit to 17th-placed Stratford Town just around the corner, Banbury will be hoping to turn things around.
But Langmead will not be at the helm for those efforts, after he handed in his resignation. Nonetheless, he will be watching on from afar and his passion for the Puritans remains.
Langmead concluded: “It’s not just about me, it’s about this football club. That’s the most important thing. That’s always at the forefront of every decision I make.
“I’m so proud to have represented this football club as a player and it’s an honour to be the manager. But, at the moment, it’s not good enough.”