HURTING TAMPLIN LOOKING FOR EXIT
Four wins from five and top of the National League South, for a moment, everything at Billericay Town seemed to be going to plan.
I interviewed owner Glenn Tamplin before their first pre-season friendly at Ebbsfleet in early July.
He had just returned from an eightweek ‘soul searching’ trip to Thailand.
“Watch what we do now with 100 per cent Glenn Tamplin,” he said after admitting his ‘demons’ returned last season. “We achieved what we achieved last year and grew with me at 30 per cent.
“Now I’ve gone away and done my soul searching, I’m going back in with Harry [Wheeler, manager] now. Harry and the players want me back as a different man. Harry is number one, Harry is the manager. I’m assistant manager, stroke psychiatrist.
“Watch what we do now with the team we’ve got. Watch what we do know with Harry [Wheeler, manager] in charge because he is a much better manager than I will ever be. Now he’s in charge from the word go we’ve got much more of a chance.” Had he learnt from his errors of last season and now, as owner of the club, take a back seat and watch from the stands? Apart from one false start on the signing of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, five games into the season things were looking rosy with Tamplin in high spirits and performing the “Tamplin Shuffle” after a narrow win over promotion rivals Wealdstone. Of course, that early season promise quickly smashed into a million pieces with the ‘sacking’ of Harry Wheeler after their first defeat in 29 games with Tamplin then steering the ship with joint managers Tristan Lewis and Danny Hazel. A 3-2 win over St Albans two days later on Bank Holiday Monday perhaps convinced Tamplin he had, somehow, made the right decision, but that was merely the eye of the storm.
A defeat at promotion rivals Woking last weekend prompted the biggest fallout of them all.
Questioned
An extraordinary post-match video interview with Tamplin, posted on Twitter by the National League themselves (which has since been deleted), saw him performing a different style of “Tamplin Shuffle”.
He was then questioned by Surrey Police after a fan reported to have seen him taking cocaine in the toilets. Police stopped Tamplin again on his way home, but were happy from their conversation they did not need to use a drugs wipe testing kit and allowed Tamplin on his way.
This led to “THE FINAL STATEMENT” in which Tamplin announced he would be cutting all ties with the club immediately, citing he “couldn’t take anymore”, and would put Billericay up for sale due to the unfounded accusation and criticism he received in the wake of the National League interview. A further statement issued on Wednesday, and now removed, in which Tamplin stated talks with potential investors had stalled and that he would cover the club’s overheads for this week, even including the figure: £30,000.
Tamplin was in the dugout with Lewis for their visit to Hemel Hempstead yesterday, but says he is trying to get Wheeler back to the club.
What will happen next? The circus must go on.