Russ Penn writing a new chapter for his Yeltz family

The Yeltz announced on Tuesday that Smith had stood down from his role as manager and that former Kidderminster Harriers boss Penn would step-in after accepting a long-term deal.

Visiting Barwell tomorrow, Penn is excited to get going with Halesowen who are winless in five Southern Central Premier games, and hopes his background at the club can help him furthermore.

Penn said: “I’ve got a lot of history with the club. My dad played for the club back in the 80s and 90s.

“I’m a local Halesowen lad, I go to games.

“I know the crowd and the atmosphere that they create, and over the last three or four years I got to know Paul Smith and the chairman really well.

“It’s very good to have some kind of relationship or core identity with the club.

“Butting heads with Paul and talking about the future is going to do us no harm. The club wants to get success at this level, so it’s a great place to start from and every player will have a clean slate from now until the end of the season to prove they want to be here going forward.”

After achieving promotion to the National League with Kidderminster last season, Penn was relieved of his management duties in early January.

The former Harriers boss reflected on his move lower down the pyramid, but is targeting more promotion glory with the Yeltz.

“Is it a step down?,” said Penn. “Of course it is because I haven’t managed at this level, but I’m also very young. I’m only 38 and had a lot of highs in the last four years and I’ve also experienced the lows.

“We all want to manage as high as we can and I’ve had a real taste of that in the last four years, but the Halesowen project and what got sold to me was just too good to refuse.

“I don’t think that the jobs you want in your head land on your lap at the time you want. Football is a very ruthless industry and things come up sporadically.

“I think that’s (promotion) the expectation around the club and what they’re trying to build. I don’t think that’s the reason why I’ve taken over from Paul.

“Paul has gone upstairs and I’m going to lean on him a lot and we’re going to make the club stronger between us.”

Penn confirmed that his number two from Kidderminster, Jimmy O’Connor, will not assist him at the Yeltz, but did not rule it out in the future saying: “There’s things already in place that Paul brought in and I like the structure.

“I will re-access like I will with all the players and backroom staff and the whole club over the next two-three months. Jimmy totally understands.”