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BEHIND ENEMY LINES |
Friday, April 02, 2004BEHIND ENEMY LINESHi everyone. Well, just as stability was creeping back into the club, Brian Flynn became the latest managerial casualty at the Vetch. My immediate reaction was of complete shock, followed closely by disgust. However, when the dust settled after I had knocked back my ninth double Drambuie and rattled some bullets into the Roath Park night air, I began to change my mind. True, Flynn did single-handedly keep us in the Nationwide League last season but if the rumours filtering out of the Vetch are to be believed then he had to go. There were stories of the players only training nine hours a week, reports of Flynn & Kevin Reeves never travelling to away matches with the squad and, most worryingly, the well-documented claim that the manager and his assistant had repeatedly refused to uproot to Swansea from their homes up north. Whether any of these rumours are true or not is now irrelevant but there's no smoke without fire and there is no doubt that for whichever reason, the relationship between manager and chairman had become fatally strained. The one irrefutable fact is that our performances in 2004 produced relegation form and that our dream start has ensured we aren't in the same perilous position as this time last season. My main concern is the timing of the dismissals, as Flynn had apparently (and ironically) just drawn up a list of players he would be releasing in the summer. What happens now? Surely his axe left the club with him? Will Curt now decide who stays or who goes, or will the board appoint Flynn's replacement before the end of the season and give him the thankless and impossible task? So, who will be the next manager to lift the Vetch Field's poisoned chalice? If Steve Cotterill or Ian Atkins are appointed then we can wave goodbye to the champagne football and say hello to Route 1. No thank-you, and surely the board aren't seriously considering brushing the cobwebs off poor Frank Burrows and inviting him back for a third spell at the club? Please, no. Andy Legg or Andy Melville as player-manager? I'd prefer Andy Pandy. Apparently it's a combination of experience and energy with local links the board are looking for, so my vote goes to the dream team of John Toshack as Director of Football and Dean Saunders as first team coach. For several reasons it'll probably never happen but I can dream. Even though Tosh has only recently joined Murcia, they are doomed to relegation from La Liga this season and the big man's family still live in Three Crosses. Compensation would be the main obstacle as I'd like to think Tosh would re-join the club for peanuts. Deano has collected several coaching badges at Blackburn and now coaches the club's strikers. I accept that he has no managerial experience but neither did Tosh when he first came to the Vetch. One positive aspect of Flynn's reign was the calibre of players he brought to the club and we desperately need them all to stay. A manager they will respect would ensure this happens so I urge the board to think long and hard before making their decision and to delay it until the summer, if necessary. Brian, whether the stories are true or false, history will remember you as the manager who kept us in the League and for that we will be eternally grateful. Ianto You can comment on this article by visiting the guestbook Read Ianto's previous columns #03 #02 #01 |