​New boss Bircham keen to succeed at Bedford Town

​Bircham has moved from Leighton Town to take over at The Eyrie, signing a two-year contract.

And he says that deal in itself shows that the club are happy for him to build gradually rather than immediately go all out for honours.

Speaking to BBC Three Counties Radio’s Ollie Bayliss, he said: “Bedford are now a step four club and their finances and resources are step four, so it wasn’t that they said I’ve got to come in and win the league and get promoted because that’s ridiculous and if you want to do that you need three or four times the budget of everyone else.

“So it’s a building job, which is reflected in the two-year contract, and they have a third year option on that if they want it.

“But the way I am and with the players I want to bring in, we don’t just want to make up the numbers. We want to have a good go at it otherwise we wouldn’t bother doing it.

“So it ticks all our boxes but the pressure isn’t on us to win it or get promoted straight away – it’s only the pressure we put on ourselves.”

Bircham added that whilst he’s not likely to simply bring players en masse from Leighton Town – whom he guided to promotion into the SPL Division One Central last season as champions at step five – familiarity always helps for any manager.

He said: “Everyone’s different, you’re not in charge of them, they’re their own lads and everyone I recruit is usually a strong character anyway so they’ll do what’s best for them.

“Of course it helps if you know the manager and like the manager, have played for him before and know their strengths and weaknesses, but it won’t be that I’ll just bring lots of players over as you have to mix and match it anyway.

“There will be some, of course, as that’s happened at every club I’ve been at and I’ve got boys with me now who have been with me at three or four clubs and I was like that as a player too.

“So I’m speaking to players but it’s not like Bedford are honey-trapping boys into it – if they want to join it’ll be for the right reasons and not for financial reasons.”