WRIGHT GLAD TO BE SHARING WORKLOAD WITH FOWLER
New boss insists he has no issues sharing workload with Fowler
AROUND this time last year, Tommy Wright effectively served notice on St Johnstone by taking a verbal flame-thrower to the club’s hierarchy for removing his autonomy over transfer business. Frustrated by chairman Steve Brown’s decision to quietly install head of football operations Kirsten Robertson, Wright insisted he bore no responsibility for the club’s struggles in the January transfer window of 2020.
Odd then, that for his next career move, he would accept a job working under a de facto director of football? He insists not.
Wright reckons the presence of James Fowler at Kilmarnock should actually make it easier for him to operate. ‘That’s a big thing for me,’ said Wright. ‘I know it’s been said that: “Oh, he wouldn’t take a job because he can’t work with a director of football”, but that was never the case.
‘I know James and I’ve said to both he and Billy (Bowie, Killie chairman) that at St Johnstone I did all the recruitment on my own. I had no real support. That was
good for me because it
James knows I will have the final say on signing new players
gave me a real wealth of experience dealing with good and bad agents. But this is something that’s going to help and support me. We are clear on how it works and James has been very supportive.
‘Even in my first 48 hours there were a couple of things that, in the past, I would probably have dealt with on my own. I’d have been taking that out on to the training pitch, so having that head of football operations can work.
‘James has come across really well and I’m looking forward to working with him.’
The early signs are positive but, with the mid-season window just two weeks closed, the summer market will provide the litmus test of the new working relationship.
‘They know what they will get from me — honesty,’ continues Wright. ‘I will never duck any situation because I am frightened to offend anybody. You are best being truthful with people.
‘There has to be that level of trust between the two people. Ultimately, James knows I will have the final say on players. Sorry, Billy will have the final say on players in terms of the money...’
So much for managing up. Following Alex Dyer’s sacking, Wright inherited a backroom team that he has augmented with one simple change — the appointment of Paul Stephenson as assistant manager in place of Andy Millen.
Stephenson, a former team-mate of Wright’s at Newcastle, already has a working knowledge of the Ayrshire club, having joined Lee Clark’s coaching staff in 2016.
‘I’ve brought in Paul and that will be it,’ continues Wright. ‘I know him, I trust him. He trusts me, we have a good friendship, he’s enthusiastic I know how he works and, more importantly for Kilmarnock, he knows how I work.
‘I can get my message over better when I have somebody beside me that I know.
‘Andy Millen is not someone I know but everyone speaks highly of him. However, I made it clear at the outset that I needed to bring in my own right-hand man, that’s normal for 99 per cent of managers and it’s no slight on Andy. Billy Thomson is the goalie coach and all the rest of the staff will stay in place, that’s important to give the club stability.’
Having watched the club drift since the departure of Steve Clarke for the Scotland job in 2019, Bowie made a point of going for a durable option.
He might have chosen a more malleable candidate than the Northern Irishman but, in spite of any friction, Wright proved a loyal and resoundingly successful manager for St Johnstone.
His seven years in situ delivered the club’s sole major honour in the shape of the Scottish Cup and European football arrived with some regularity.
It may be a stretch to replicate the third-placed finish of Clarke’s final season but the 57-year-old is not aiming low.
‘Stability is important. It was the bedrock of success at St Johnstone and it was massively important for me,’ adds Wright.
‘I did say to Billy that I am coming here to try and replicate the success I had at St Johnstone, I want to win a trophy here, get into Europe, get into that top six on a consistent basis, not just one or two seasons.
‘I know the contract is just for two-and-a-half years but this is a long-term project. I want to develop young players, as I did at St Johnstone.’
Wright insists the appointment is not a one-way transaction. If he gets it right he believes Killie can potentially reward him in a way St Johnstone never quite could.
‘The short-term aim is simple — move up the table,’ he states. ‘But if we can do that then, medium and long-term, they will fill three sides of this ground every week, simply because there’s a massive catchment area.
‘That was something Steve Brown always felt we couldn’t get at St Johnstone. Our fan-base increase didn’t replicate the success on the pitch. That won’t be the case here, simply because of geography. It has the potential to be a bigger club in terms of fan base.’
In terms of style, Wright will look for a similar formula. ‘We always use words like “horrible” and phrases like “not easy to play against” for sides that do the simple things well,’ he says.
‘Managers would come to me and say: “I hate playing against your team”. In the early days I thought that was a bit of an insult. But later I realised it was a back-handed compliment.
‘When I was doing my last rebuild at St Johnstone, bringing the average age down from 31 to 24, I said to Alex Cleland that managers had stopped saying we’re hard to beat. That was strange — because when we hit that good run and started to turn things around a few managers started to say it again.
‘That’s what I want to try and create here at Kilmarnock. I want a team that is very difficult to beat but I also want to see high-tempo football, playing in the opposing team’s half.’