Andrew Wilson and Tommy Wright appear to be the lone voices at Steel Park lately, rolled out after each game to the waiting press to give the same answers to the same questions that neither of them can really answer. It has been weeks since the financial issues and player payment problems were confirmed, yet the club has still issued no official statement. Apart from the chairman’s admission on BBC Northampton that there were delays, there has still been no full public explanation and absolutely no apology at all.
The squad at Corby Town has been torn apart as a result, with 7 senior players having already left the club and those remaining still no wiser to whether or not their next pay cheque will arrive on time, or indeed at all. You really have to feel for the managerial duo for having to deal with this situation, they were brought to the club to put together a football team and get the best from their players. They did that to a point and were pushing for the play-offs, yet now they are fighting an impossible battle.
The club’s league results have reflected the situation recently, due to a severely weakened playing squad. However, the victories over Totton and Biggleswade speak volumes about the character of the players and their willingness to play for Wright and Wilson.
The headaches for the duo are internal, as they have been for months. They appear to have been systematically undermined during the recent spell of their tenure. You get the feeling from their interviews that it has taken its toll on them physically and mentally. They have openly talked about wanting to remain at the club, but do not want to put their reputations on the line. And why should they?
Money won’t be a reason why they are fighting on at Corby, they haven’t been receiving their wages after all. What I see in Andrew Wilson and Tommy Wright are proud men who rate their own abilities as coaches and managers and think deep down that maybe, just maybe, this can still work out in the long term.
They have had to put up with a lot in a season which is becoming a complete nightmare but I find their attitudes admirable. At times like this, walking away is definitely the easy option. Yes, you lose your job and you lose all chance of turning things around but it’s got to be preferable to spending every waking moment trying to pull together a squad each week in the hope that things improve, whilst trying to balance family life and a day job.
You don’t enjoy football when your back’s to the wall. They must almost be in a situation where if someone tapped them on the shoulder and said ‘thanks lads but enough is enough’ they would feel a bit of relief. Yet, they still believe their long-term ambitions at Corby aren’t lost.
This last couple of months has not been a fair test of Wright and Wilson; not even close. They should be judged on the side they had assembled prior to the financial issues, which was seemingly making a late charge for the play-offs. But you suspect that the barrage of disruptive politics has done irreparable damage when it comes to their relationship with the chairman.
The mess they’re in is ridiculous. Everything is a problem. You might not think the wage delay was a big deal, or you might not care, but it won’t have done good things to the squad. It’ll be upsetting people and dividing people; it’ll be causing distrust with the club and chairman too. It certainly isn’t a time when anyone feels like doing favours for anyone else.
As a player you’re being asked to help out by putting money aside but you’re not really sure if that help is deserved or if it’s going to be reciprocated. It’s not a matter of whether or not they want to assist the club and the supporters. That goes without saying. But at certain times, what the players are really being asked to do is give a hand to an owner who is making a meal of things. So the dressing room asks ‘why should we?’ That goes for lads who’ve come through the system as much as anyone else, like Molly. At the end of the day you all look out for number one. I find it amazing – truly amazing – that neither the chairman nor the club has said anything about the wage delay. You’d think it had never happened.
In my opinion, someone should be coming out to explain what’s happening, what’s been negotiated to resolve the problems and to address the million and one issues at Steel Park. I am sure that Wright and Wilson have plenty of questions that they would like answered too, because at the moment they are the only ones answering any questions.
The continued backing of the management and players has been great to see from the supporters, in fact it has been an unlikely positive from a bad situation. We will need to stay strong with them until the end of the season, in the hope that we can come out of the other side in one piece. Keep up the good work Tommy and “Stan”.
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