Richardson feels Rams’ pain in time Of strife
WIGAN Athletic manager Leam Richardson says he has “huge empathy” for the staff involved in Derby County’s administration and believes more needs to be done to educate managers.
Richardson was Wigan’s assistant manager when they were relegated from the Championship because of a 12-point deduction for entering administration last year.
Then, after boss Paul Cook resigned, Richardson was appointed caretaker manager twice during the club’s first season in League One before being given the reins permanently in April.
Therefore, he knows more than most what Wayne Rooney and the rest of the Derby playing and non-playing staff are going through at the moment.
Speaking to Wigan Today, Richardson revealed, that he has such a strength of feeling about the process that he is now campaigning for more education to be available to those going through the ordeal.
“Obviously, everyone here will have huge empathy for the situation at Derby – the players, management, staff, families, supporters, and what they’re going through,” he said.
“If they have to experience even a fraction of what we did, it still sends a tingle down the spine.
“Hopefully, they’ve got good people in and there’ll be some really good advice, and I’ve become a little bit of a campaigner now in that respect.
“I still don’t think there’s anywhere near enough information out there – from the FA, the EFL, the PFA, the LMA – to guide the likes of myself and other managers.
“I recently put a little presentation through to the FA and I spoke at length to Rick Parry [EFL chairman]. But the situation is as close to reckless as possible, in terms of talking about the very future of a football club.
“You’ve got all the licences and the diplomas going and they teach you all about the footballing world, leadership, environments in which to perform in.
“But nobody really scratches the surface in terms of managing a situation like administration.
“Other than personal experience, there’s nothing I was taught that gave me any idea of how to deal with a situation like ours.
“As a result, you’re totally in the deep end, trying to put out fires,
trying to stop other fires being started, and trying to take care of everybody else’s personal and professional lives.
“Especially at the moment, in a pandemic, in the midst of a financial crisis, in an ever-changing football world, it’s important we can educate managers as much as we can.
“It’s never going to be a ‘one size fits all’ approach but we can look to build a road map to try to help future managers.
“And it’s certainly something I will be looking to drive forward, because the more education and information out there, the better.”