MICKY PUT ME ON THE WRIGHT ROAD
WHO inspires the inspirations in the ever-changing world of football? Which traits stand the test of time?
In the latest in our series, we pick the brains of ex-Corby Town, Nuneaton Borough, Darlington and Stratford Town boss Tommy Wright.
Starting out at Leicester City, the club he supported as a boy, striker Wright debuted in the Premier League and bagged the winner in an East Midlands derby with Nottingham Forest on his first Foxes start.
Barnsley, Darlington and Tamworth were among many pit stops in and out of the Football League before taking a player-manager’s role at Corby Town, guiding the Steelmen to the Southern League title with a last-day decider against a Poole Town side that had topped the table at the start of the day.
After spells elsewhere, he had been due to return to the Corby dugout this season but stood down before taking charge to focus on a new career with the police.
But even after walking away – for now at least – those memories from Leicester remain at the heart of his football influences.
WHO WAS YOUR GREATEST GAFFER AND WHY?
It would have to be Micky Adams for me.
I owe a lot to him, he brought me through the ranks at Leicester and gave me the opportunities I had always dreamed of.
Dave Bassett was manager at the time but I think it was Micky who pulled me through. I was scoring in the youth team and he kept me around the first-team squad when he became manager.
He gave me my first start against Nottingham Forest and I scored the winning goal so I owe everything to him.
I still keep in touch with him, I always have done and text him over Christmas and new year.
It is nice. When I started in management at Corby Town he came over to a lot of games because it was local. He has always been there supporting me.
WHAT IS YOUR TOP MEMORY OF WORKING WITH MICKY?
He always kept me on my toes.
That night against Forest, he didn’t tell me I would be starting until the team talk. He knew it would mean everything to me and my family and he kept it to himself.
That took away a lot of the pressure and didn’t give me too long to think about it.
It was a very good group of players and he surrounded me with experience, that was a really positive influence.
He was good for young players and particularly good for me. He lived in the same town as me, Market Harborough, and I could not move without him knowing.
Whether that was luck or not I don’t know but as a young player, to be kept on my toes like I was, it worked.
He knew I was the cheeky young lad, he would crack little jokes and put you at ease but he also knew I respected him so much and feared the fact that I was only ever so far away from being taken into the office for a rollicking.
It was almost like a father-son relationship and I felt that way about him, he had such an influence on me.
HOW HAS HE INFLUENCED YOUR STYLE OF MANAGEMENT?
He gave opportunities to youngsters which was something I did. I wanted to give back the chances that I had been given.
People like Micky and Steve Beaglehole, who is still the Under-23s manager at Leicester, the way they pushed through youth was very much what I took from that, to spend time with them and keep driving them on.
Leicester was the biggest influence on my career by a mile and looking back now, I probably didn’t have to leave when I did. I just felt Craig Levein, the manager at the time, wanted a new striker in.
It felt like I was getting forced out of the door but that was with two-and-a-half years left on my contract.
If I knew then what I do now I wouldn’t have left. Craig got sacked a few months later and football is one of those sports that can change overnight.
A manager leaves and new opportunities arise so that is probably one of my biggest regrets, getting forced out of the club when I did.
ANY OTHER INFLUENCES?
Just the coaches and managers I have played for, I feel fortunate to have had some very good ones.
Stuart Baxter was my England under-19s manager. He was very tactical, calm and serious, very much like a headteacher.
People like Dave Penney and Martin Gray, up at Darlington, were the complete opposite to that – very much in-your-face managers who demanded hard work and determination, they were very physically demanding and wanted their teams to reflect that style on the pitch.
You take bits from every manager you have. Nigel Pearson was another one, he wasn’t the manager but came away with the England under-20s team and he could silence a room just by his sheer presence, a man mountain with a look of steel and you took him seriously.
I haven’t delved into other sports, it has always been football all the way for me.
YOU HAVE STEPPED AWAY FROM FOOTBALL – WHY WAS THAT AND ARE YOU LIKELY TO RETURN?
I have gone into a new career with the police.
The biggest decision for me was to step away from management, so many people influenced me to the point where I feel indebted to them.
The support I have had in choosing a different career path has been nice, though.
I miss management, of course I do, but I also miss playing and there comes a point when you have to try something new and give it your all.
I have always been that type of person, if I choose to do something I put everything into it so for the time being this is the choice I have made.
I took the Corby job in the summer but quickly had to resign because I knew I would be missing a lot of Saturday games. You cannot have a manager of a club aspiring to win promotion who does not stand on the touchline every week.
Football has taken a back seat for me at the minute but I think I will be back one day.