Raith Rovers director Turnbull Hutton insists John McGlynn’s job is safe even if the Starks Park side are relegated to the Second Division.
The Fife outfit sit just three points above the relegation play-off spot in the First Division after a challenging campaign on and off the pitch.
The 50-year-old’s current contract expires in a matter of weeks and he is yet to agree a new deal with Rovers, but even the drop would not see McGlynn axed according to Hutton.
He confirmed: ”In my view, regardless of the end to the season, we should keep the manager. Who would be better to get us back up if we were to go down? He brought us up from the Second Division and I would have faith he could do that again.
”He knows the club, knows the board, knows the financial constraints he is working under and is very well connected. John has done a magnificent job at this football club. Every year he has moved this club forward, but this season we have had a bad year. That is not because we are a terrible team, it has just been a tough, dog-eat-dog division this year.”
The battle for survival has been a far cry from the title challenge pieced together by the club last season, which earned McGlynn 2010/11 PFA Scotland manager of the year.
”There are the usual supporters who seem to expect us to be a mini-Barcelona and ask why we are not winning every week, but you need to look at the overall achievements of John McGlynn,” Hutton added.
”He was manager of the year in 2011. What sort of person would want to dump all that and get an unknown quantity in? John has shown loyalty to us and we should show equal loyalty to John.”
The director insists the continuing survival of Raith Rovers is of far more importance than what division the club will be playing in next season.
Rovers expect gate receipts to show a drop of around £200,000 compared to last season and directors have been forced to inject their own cash to keep the club functioning. The club’s current debt reportedly stands at well over £1 million.
Hutton continued: ”If you go down, you go down. It happens. The achievement at Raith Rovers has been keeping us alive as a going concern.
”Nobody outside this club will ever appreciate how difficult this season has been, the worst season ever. Falling crowds, the recession, injuries someone gets a double-hernia, it costs us £4,000. Letting the manager go hardly seems like a solution to anything.”
Rovers could effectively ensure survival this weekend with a win at home to bottom Queen of the South.