There is no shame in being sacked ...I’ve tried it, I took on the pressure & I’d do it all again if a job came up
SAYS MARK WILSON
Mark Wilson didn’t need to take the job as Brechin City boss.
Effectively, a full-time gig on a part-time contract with Scottish football’s worst team?
The dreaded pressure of being the SPFL’s ‘Club 42’?
A squad revamp with limited funds? And travell ing from Glasgow to Angus every week?
It’s hardly the country’s most at t ract ive coaching role, especially when you already have an established media career.
But Wilson approached it with the same level of enthusiasm he showed when he was playing for Celtic and Scotland.
He knew it would take time – longer than the 24 league games he got before being brutal ly sacked after a training session.
It would be easy for Wilson to feel bitter especially after losing the manager’s gig at Airdrie.
But the 36-year-old admits he would jump in again if another opportunity came up.
Speaking for the first time since he was replaced at Brechin by player- boss Michael Paton, Wilson said: “I would do it all again because it’s what I know.
“Do I believe what I was doing was right? Yes. I love being a pundit and that is going well.
“But there’s credit in being a pundit while being involved in football at the same time. You’re out there on the touchline and experiencing failure.
“There is no shame in getting the sack. I’ve tried it, I took on the pressure and I can relate to managers more now as a pundit.
“It’s my love of the game that draws me in. The same feeling I had when I was a kid.
“My own career was cut short through injury. I was robbed of five years’ playing time and that still weighs heavy on me.
“But putting a session together and seeing it come together is the closest you’ll get to playing.
“That buzz you get from a win puts you on a high. You can’t get that from any other environment and that’s what pulls you back in.”
Brechin finished bottom when the campaign was called – but escaped a play-off that would have threatened their SPFL status.
He could feel the pressure but felt he was making steady progress before being sacked.
Wilson said: “I saw first hand just how much pressure gaffers come under. Doing media, I’m one of the ones who comments on managers pretty quickly. But being on the flip side I got a harsh lesson on what it’s like.
“I took training on the Monday after our game against Elgin to prepare for Albion Rovers. I’d set up the team and the shape.
“But after training, I got the call in the car. That’s how brutal it can be.
“Before taking the job, I’d look at Brechin’s results and think, ‘ They are bottom of League Two – who cares?’
“But people DO care. Jobs ride on the success of the club. Brechin is a small town but locals are passionate about their team. So there is a lot of pressure. There’s also pressure not to be ‘Club 42’. With the threat of the play-offs last season, I could see the worry. “That’s what led them to decide on my job after two games this season. If I got the call five or six weeks down the line because it still wasn’t working, I’d have held my hand up. But it was quick.” Mark Wilson is host of The Celtic Huddle Podcast. With Frank McAvennie, Murdo MacLeod and Simon Donnelly, they bring exclusive transfer stories and big- name interviews.