TWO years ago Chesham United were a club in peril; a succession of managers had failed to get the club going on the pitch and off it financial catastrophe was just a heartbeat away.

Charles Manchester, above right, stepped in at the 11th hour to save the club from liquidation, and shortly afterwards Watford and England legend Luther Blissett followed him to Meadow Road to sort out the players.

Blissett wasn't the hit Manchester hoped he'd be, but a change in the summer has finally got all aspects of Chesham moving in the right direction.

Under Andy Leese, Chesham have overcome teething problems to climb into the play-off places. Manchester is at last getting what he ordered.

He said: "What I wanted from this season was to get a bit of organisation and spirit into the team and to see them moving in the right direction.

"You never know for sure when you appoint a new manager, but Andy is an established, experienced manager at non-league level and is delivering exactly what I hoped he would."

On Saturday they thrashed a Barton Rovers side with at least twice their budget 3-0 to make it six league games unbeaten; the chance to make it seven must wait until tomorrow's visit from Bishops Cleve after a Tuesday meeting with Cinderford was rained off.

Leese said: "I've had to convince the chairman that we do need a squad to push on.

"To his and his board's credit they've backed me, and this is the most competitive squad I've had in seven or eight years of management, without a doubt.

"There's quality everywhere and the most difficult bit is letting the two or three down who are not involved. That's the hardest task you'll have in management, keeping everyone happy."

Leese has tried to keep fringe players active with short-term loans to lower-level clubs, but while the manager admits frustrated players might still want out, his chairman insists they won't leave simply to bolster the club's kitty.

Manchester said: "The two or three changes to the team since the start of the season have made all the difference and we have no plans at all to sell anyone.

"The players we've got now are core to the team and at the moment we are flying.

"I've given Andy a slightly bigger budget than I wanted to this year, but he's actually had significantly less money to spend than Luther and there is no point playing just to make up the numbers."

It's a far cry from recent history, when wages were being deferred and players left en masse.

Manchester said: "Financially we are stable now. We wanted to get more sponsorship and advertising from the local area and we have.

"The trouble is the club is still reliant on me and that's not healthy. I don't want it to be in trouble if I walk under a bus so we still need more local businesses to get involved.

"This club is going places and they will get payback."

Anyone interested can contact Manchester through the club on 01494 783 964.