Danny Wilson

By Clarence Rode
April 30 2008

Pools Online has already looked at the players who have featured in the team this season and asked which of them should stay and which should go during the close-season. But now it’s time to ask whether there need to be changes in the management at Victoria Park. In other words: Danny Wilson – does he stay, or does he go? He has already hinted that all is not well between himself and chairman Ken Hodcroft (right) by stating more than once that he can’t start his summer rebuilding work until the chairman decides which players leave and which go.
We can only assume that by this he means the chairman has final approval on Wilson’s retained list, which of course is the case at most clubs.
But is the manager trying to say that he is being held back by the chairman, or that the chairman is making important decisions on football matters, the very decisions Wilson is hired to make?
Several weeks ago we asked fans for their opinion of Wilson in our latest Pools Online poll.
The fans were asked “Is Danny Wilson the man to lead Pools next season?” They voted as follows:     
       
            Yes                                           52.94%
            No                                            35.29%
            Only if he keeps them up         11.76%
 

That’s something of a vote of confidence for Wilson, especially if you add those who said he should stay to those who voted yes – that comes to 64.7%, meaning almost two thirds of fans feel Wilson is the man for the job.
So what about those who want him out? Is it the usual noisy minority who are against him no matter what he does and won’t rest until he is replaced?
What really matters, of course, is whether Hodcroft thinks Wilson should stay.
He’s been the boss for two seasons now, winning promotion from League Two in his first and finishing just below halfway in League One this season.

When you look at what some managers have done – or failed to do – for some clubs, is that really grounds for the sack?

Ask Sven Goran Eriksson.