‘What he has achieved was way above all expectations’
HOMEGROWN FAVOURITE PAYS TRIBUTE TO MAN WHO LEAVES GREAT LEGACY AT THE CLUB HE LOVED
TOWN legend Andy Booth says David Wagner has changed the club for ever and his great work will live on.
Club Ambassador Booth – a homegrown favourite who netted 150 goals in Town colours – says supporters should never forget what the 47-year-old German has done in his three years at the helm.
Boothy got a personal goodbye from Wagner – as did all the playing, backroom and club staff – as he left the John Smith’s Stadium and says that speaks volumes for the character of the departing head coach.
“David has been round and said goodbye to everybody and it’s sad, I’m gutted actually,” said Boothy, who cemented his own name in club folklore with his performances and goalscoring in two spells in blue and white stripes.
“What he has achieved over the past three years is way above everybody’s expectations.
“Nobody thought we would ever relish a shot at the play-offs in the Championship, let alone winning them and then surviving in the Premier League.
“David has given us something we could never have expected and it’s sad to see him go because he is not only a good football man but a super bloke as well.
“It shows the dignity of the man that he was able to go and speak to Dean (Hoyle) so honestly about how he was feeling, and I definitely get the impression he has done this, ultimately, for the good of the club.”
Boothy says there are now big boots to fill at the club for 20,000 season-card holders, but he knows Hoyle and the board will do everything to ensure the Wagner legacy is built on rather than frittered away.
“It’s a shame, because in my opinion there is no better manager out there than David,” added Boothy.
“If you go back over the season we have not been far away at all and competitive in pretty much every game – but the amount of big decisions which have gone against us is incredible.
“We could easily be sitting here with another eight or nine points if we’d got the right decisions, out of
He is not only a good football man but a super
bloke as well
the relegation zone and this situation would never have been reached.
“I know it’s all ifs and buts because we are where we are, but unfortunately this is what football is like and we are now looking to a new era. Unbelievable, really, and, like I say, I’m gutted.”
The man who netted the last of his Town goals – to add to 28 he got for Sheffield Wednesday – at Leyton Orient in May 2009 has called on the fans to get behind interim boss Mark Hudson and the team, starting