WE BUILT IT ALL FROM SCRATCH
Wilson’s praise for men on Moatside
WHEN Frank Wilson arrived at Moatside as Merstham manager he had no coaching staff, no physio and no kit man – let alone any players.
The departure of stalwart Hayden Bird to Kingstonian after seven years at the club, taking them to the cusp of Step 2 last May, paved the way for a new era to begin.
Within 24 hours of returning from a holiday in Malaga last summer, Wilson was sat in front of the Merstham hierarchy outlining his plan and even before he had landed the job, work had already begun.
“I remember driving home from the interview and thinking I’m going to phone a few people just to give them a heads up about the situation,” the former Tooting & Mitcham boss told The NLP. “When I got the job I phoned them and said it’s real now!
“The experience at Tooting, where when the previous manager left all the players and staff did too, it helped me prepare for the Merstham situation but I don’t think it made it any easier because every club is different. It was all systems go.”
The 33-year-old took Tooting to the Isthmian Division One South title in 2017 and last year had a brief spell working under Kim Harris at Kingstonian.
The talented boss already has plenty of experience and his hands-on approach is popular with players.
“I made a point of bringing players to Merstham before signing because I wanted to show them the environment,” said Wilson. “I regretted that after about a week of driving back and forth, I must have done 100 trips in a week! But I got to know the club so well so quickly and it was worthwhile doing it. Everyone involved in all aspects is really great.
“They really care about Merstham and I think most people get that feel when they visit the club.
“It was really enjoyable being able to start literally from scratch. There was a sense of pride helping to build it with the directors and staff. It’s a rewarding process.”
It was rather predictable Merstham’s season would be littered with peaks and troughs given the enforced overhaul, but Wilson had the support of an understanding and experienced board, plus a former Premier League striker in Barry Hayles to assist him.
Intentions
The campaign’s suspension came at a time when the club was enjoying one of their better spells, winabout ning two and drawing four of their last eight, which left Wilson confident they would have avoided relegation with them sitting inside the bottom two on goal difference.
However, Wilson has admitted he would trade a drop to Step 4 if life was to return to normal.
“Our intentions before the virus were we always had an eye on next season in how we were building the team,” he added. “The purpose behind starting from scratch and building a new environment was we wanted to bleed that into next season.
“One of the things I learnt this year as a manager and as a coach, not that it was any different to my other experiences, was about trusting players – because we started from scratch and had little time, we had to put an enormous amount of trust and belief into the players we’d signed.
“I learnt a lot from players having that responsibility and either choosing to take it on board or unfortunately falling short in certain situations and dealing with that. I’ve really enjoyed the challenge.”