WOT’S GOT HIS WORK CUT OUT
LONG-SUFFERING Paul Wotton admits steering homeless Truro City has been an almost ‘unmanageable’ job at times this season, but has hailed his ‘bullet-proof’ squad of players for giving fans hope for a bright new future.
Wotton’s White Tigers are acclimatising to life at a THIRD
different home ground this season, this time 200 miles away from the club’s spiritual home in the deepest south west.
One of the wettest winters on record has left the nomadic Cornish club with no fewer than five games in hand on many of their league rivals and clinging onto their National League South status by a thread ahead of a hectic final leg which sees them play 15 games in the space of just six weeks.
The first of those games saw them take on Chelmsford City at Gloucester City’s Meadow Park last night with a 7.30pm kick-off, meaning players, staff and supporters (of both sides) didn’t arrive home until around 2.30am.
Truro have been forced to play their last two ‘home’ matches at Gloucester after a temporary groundshare with Taunton Town was put on hold due to the waterlogged state of Taunton’s Wordsworth Drive pitch.
Wotton has won two league titles as a player with Plymouth Argyle and has a promotion on his CV as manager of the White Tigers, but he admits keeping his side up this season amid the mayhem would go down as his proudest achievement.
“It’s a very, very difficult situation to manage at the moment, impossible at times even,” the 46-year-old told The NLP.
“I don’t think people from outside the football club realise just how difficult it has been. That’s not just for me, by the way, but for the players, the fans, the new owners, everyone associated with Truro City.
“You’re playing from one game to the next, from Plymouth Parkway to Taunton, then Gloucester, then Gloucester at 7.30 on a Saturday night. That’s a six-hour commute for some of our players. It’s unprecedented, and it’ll probably never happen again.
“It’s that horrible saying ‘you can only control the controllable’ – one that I don’t really use but in this case it’s very true.
“Has it been unmanageable at times, yes, but it’s a magnificent football club with a tremendous fan base and people stick together.
“That’s what we are going to need if we are to achieve our goal of staying up this season because that’s all we can do.
“We’re a pretty resolute bunch and we’ve just got to dig deep. There is no other choice. All we can do is keep believing in the process, stay level-headed, not get too high, not get too low, keep calm, stay humble and keep working hard.
“If that’s good enough to keep us up, then so be it. If we achieve that, it will be monumental.”
Wotton’s side were four points clear of the relegation places before last night’s clash with Chelmsford – a position made all the healthier by last week’s crunch 2-0 win over fellow south-west strugglers and ‘temporary landlords’ Taunton.
The White Tigers chief couldn’t be prouder of his players right now, not to mention the fans, who have stick by the club through thick and thin.
“We worked a miracle getting promoted, through the play-offs, last season, playing 42 away games. This year, we’ve got to play 46 away games in a hell of a tough league,” Wotton continued.
“I can’t speak highly enough of the players, they’ve been absolutely fantastic.
Commitment
“No matter what keeps getting thrown at them, they just keep getting on with it. Honestly, they’re bullet-proof.
“They just smile and then ask ‘where are we playing this week?’ Their commitment levels have been magnificent All credit to them.
“But, as hard as it is, for everyone, there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
“The club will be back in Truro for next season, that’s set in stone, which is phenomenal.
“I went down to the new stadium and on Monday and it’s looking really, really good. This club has been away from Truro and away from Cornwall for way too long.
“The fans have suffered through that and I feel tremendously sorry for them.
“If we are still in Step 2 for the first home game of next season, it will be magnificent. The people of Truro have been starved of football for too long now.
“But whatever league Truro City are in, they’ll be playing league football in their home city again next season. That’s the main thing, we’re clinging onto that.”