Brechin City have sacked manager Mark Wilson and his No2 Simon Donnelly after a terrible start to the 2020/21 campaign.
The Glebe Park side have lost every game in both the Betfred Cup and League Two, prompting club chiefs to make former Dundee United and Celtic ace Wilson the first managerial casualty of the new SPFL season.
Our Brechin correspondent John Hoey has his say on the situation.
Did Mark Wilson deserve to be dismissed?
Firstly, I need to say that Mark’s remained upbeat throughout it all. He still had faith in the players.
I spoke to him after the game at the weekend and asked about the confidence issue. He simply said that it was up to him and Simon Donnelly to continue their work on the training ground.
He felt they could turn it round but, clearly, the board disagreed with that.
In truth, I can’t believe they’ve dismissed Mark before Saturday’s match away at Albion Rovers.
It’s a crucial game and he should’ve been given the chance to take the team for it.
Was the writing on the wall after Saturday’s 3-0 defeat to Elgin City?
I was right next to the directors on Saturday covering the game and their body language, to me, indicated things were going to have to happen soon.
But I didn’t think it would happen at this stage.
Although, last week, the chairman Ken Ferguson said: “We have constantly been trying to rebuild and this year is really a transition period for us.
“We have had to start from scratch, really. We have looked at the whole structure of the club – a root and branch review – so that has meant a lot of change here.
“I also think we have a lot of young players who could take time to learn to play together.
“I would stress, though, that everyone here is well aware that it is a shortened season so time isn’t something that is in great supply.
“We do all understand the need to get things right on the pitch.”
Mark has been involved in football – at the very highest level – for years so he knows the demands that come with management positions.
To be fair to him, he didn’t give the impression that he was a man under pressure.
From a media perspective, he was first class, great to talk to and very articulate, and I’m gutted for him.
Why have Brechin had such poor results?
It’s a very, very young team and there are possibly only three or four players that they retained from last year.
They played very well in their opening game against Dundee United [in the Betfred Cup]. Yes, they lost 6-2 but there were a lot of positives in the game.
But it’s been downhill since then and defensive blunders have cost them.
They conceded three goals against Elgin and it was down to three defensive errors.
It’s a team lacking in confidence and if the run continues, it’ll only get worse from that point of view.
They have guys like Jonathan Page and Michael Paton but the majority of the squad are under 24 and they need more experience in there.
How are Brechin supporters feeling about the start to the season?
It’s very difficult to gauge the strength of feeling at the moment with fans unable to attend matches but the ones I speak to have been very disappointed with the results.
There’s not a lot of optimism there. One thing’s for sure – supporters realise that the squad is an inexperienced one that needs older heads.
𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐁 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓
Brechin City announce that Manager Mark Wilson and Assistant Manager Simon Donnelly have been released from their contracts and have left the Club with immediate effect.
➡️ https://t.co/dAjC4BCbPK pic.twitter.com/SfkOR74mIV
— Brechin City FC (@BrechinCityFC) October 27, 2020
Five defeats out of five this season in all competitions, bottom of League Two and 24 goals conceded – what next?
Whoever comes in has an enormous task ahead of them. The performances simply haven’t been good enough.
Sorting the defence out is obviously a priority. On the recruitment front, Brechin must look to bring in experienced players who have been involved in a dogfight before.
