Liam Friend has no shortage of managers to draw inspiration from as he becomes Herne Bay’s boss - but he won’t be out to totally replicate any of them.

The 37-year-old, who counts Folkestone, Margate and Ashford among his former clubs, is hard at work ahead of Bay’s 2025/26 Isthmian South East season.

Among Friend’s ex-managers are Neil Cugley, Jay Saunders, Steve Lovell, Steve Watt and Tommy Warrilow.

He said: “They’re lots of really big names in non-league football that I’ve been fortunate enough to see close-hand how they work.

"If I can have a small percentage of their success, it wouldn’t be a bad managerial career!

“But obviously, they were a lot more experienced than myself when they were my managers.

“Cugs was my manager for 10 years and, when he first became my manager, he had been manager at Folkestone for 12 years or something like that at that point. Crazy numbers, really!

“You do try and learn off these people because they’re huge names in non-league football.

“But, at the same time, you have got to be yourself. There’s no point being a No.2 of anybody else.

“Hopefully, people will talk about me in 10 years’ time how we’re talking about those people.

"But it’s up to me to work hard and then the proof will be in the pudding.”

Herne Bay largely under-achieved and finished 16th in their 2024/25 campaign, although Friend doesn’t expect to make wholesale changes.

“Obviously, we have got to speak to the current players, the ones that do want to stay and the ones that don’t want to stay, but I can’t imagine there being 20 signings,” said Friend, talking shortly after his appointment had been confirmed earlier this month.

“At the same time, we have just finished 16th and that’s not where we wanted to be.

“We need to try and change something to make sure that we’re not in that position again - whether that’s personnel, training and, obviously, the management is one of the things that already has been changed. The target is definitely not to be where we finished.

“We had a few good results towards the end of the season and there needs to be a bit more of a consistent base over the whole season.”

Friend thinks the club should be aiming towards a play-off place in 2025/26, although achieving a top-five finish might be easier said than done.

He added: “That’s probably where a club like Herne Bay should be aiming for, although it’s not as simple as ‘Oh, we’re a big club so we should be there’. Football is a lot more complicated.

“But we need to win more games than we have this year and come a lot higher up the table.

"I’m not going to be saying ‘We’re going to do this, we’re going to do that’ because a lot of things can be impacted in football by different parameters.”

Friend also praised under-23s manager Gary Sayer and his No.2 Toby Roberts for their work with the youngsters - some of whom have been handed senior starts and could get plenty more.

“Over the course of the season, I believe six or seven from the under-23s got opportunities,” Friend said “The last game of the season, there were five teenagers in the starting line-up so that’s good.

“The hard work that’s been done by Toby and Gary with the under-23s bore a bit of fruit towards the end of the season. It’s good there is that pathway.

“Hopefully, pre-season can be used for that purpose, as well, and to see how the lads are getting on and how far they are from being an Isthmian South East player, rather than an under-23s player.”

Keeper Harley Earle has left to join rivals Ashford.