The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Wick unfinished business
● Former boss McKenna says leaving the Scorries was difficult
Tom McKenna feels he still had a lot to offer Wick Academy and the end to his time as manager was premature.
After discussions with the committee and chairman Pat Miller, McKenna stepped down as manager on Thursday last week after two-and-a-half years at Harmsworth Park.
The club then announced on Wednesday that longserving player Gary Manson would take over on an interim basis.
McKenna said there were issues behind the scenes that contributed to the club’s inconsistent season but, ultimately, he leaves with a sense of unfinished business.
He said: “It was a difficult decision for me to make.
“A lot of things came to head. We went through a lot of issues internally and that had created disharmony in the dressing room. These were issues behind the scenes we had to deal with.
“The club is in a transition period with one chairman and another and it can bring unsettlement to the club. As a group, we experienced that as well.
“People were questioning results and it’s a resultsorientated business.
“It’s been an inconsistent season but we’re in ninth place only five points different from last year, which the club regarded as a respectable season.
“I’m really disappointed and feel I had a lot more to offer the club. One day, I’d like to go back as I feel I have unfinished business with Wick Academy.”
McKenna added that at times during his tenure, he had felt like walking away from the job but the commitment of the players kept him going.
He said: “When you work with a group with their work ethic, it motivated me to keep fighting with them. You’re thinking ‘I’m asking these boys not to give up, I have to show that as a manager’. It’s the easiest thing to walk away and the hardest to keep on battling. They inspired me to keep on going.
“It’s been a hard year for me and those behind the scenes know how difficult it’s been. I would like to have seen it through but I wish them all the best. I have learned you need to be thick-skinned, as you’re constantly being questioned and assessed.
“At the end of the day people are passionate about their football club and, being passionate about the game myself, I can understand that.”
A lack of coaching resources – he and assistant Richard Hughes took the majority of training this season – hampered preparations, he feels, but it will be Manson and another ex-Wick player in Stewart Ross who will take charge until the end of the campaign.
McKenna said: “I look at teams above us with massive budgets and catchment areas. For this club to be successful, so many variables have to work and for that to materialise is a big ask. But in my time, if we’ve got our strongest team out we’ve shown we can get results.”