Does this dispel some of the stories?

[Ddraigoch]

Daily post article by Barry Horne
Didn't Don and Bazza resign when DK got the job? He suggests that he nominated DK before Mills was appointed or are they just empty words.

Wrexham are starting their search for a new manager with Dean Keates having left the club to join Walsall.

I played with Dean at Walsall right at the end of my career – in fact my last ever professional appearance was a full 90 minutes of a 3-0 thrashing of Northampton on the final day of the 2000-01 season.

It was one of the least significant games in terms of status or meaning that I ever played in, but I remember the day better than many hundreds of much bigger, more important games that I played in simply because I knew it was likely to be my last ever game and so was determined to enjoy it.

I was a few days short of my 39th birthday and knew my time was up.

Fortunately I was still more than physically fit enough to have played on, but after leaving the Premier League in the summer of 2000 and dropped down the league my ‘desire’ had deteriorated and once that had gone I knew I could not play on.

Ray Graydon, who I knew from my days at Southampton where he was the reserve-team manager, took me to Walsall as cover as they closed in on promotion to the Championship.

With a play-off place secured, Graydon took the opportunity to rest some of their main men such as Dean Keates and Tom Bennett, their two midfield starters, ahead of the play-offs.

A few days short of my 39th birthday I was pleased that I finished my career not only with a win but a really good performance, although that is not saying too much – the opposition were so bad that Brett Angell bagged a hat-trick!

Anyway, roll forward a few years and our paths crossed again as I watched Dean from the stands as he captained Wrexham to near promotion and FA Trophy success, and I was totally not surprised that he has made a very good start to his coaching career.

In fact, so confident was I that he could do a good job for Wrexham, I argued that he should have been given the job ahead of Gary Mills when Kevin Wilkin was sacked. I also proposed almost the exact same support staff he has around him now which has done so well.

I presume there will be a few disgruntled fans who will take issue with the fact that Dean is leaving Wrexham Football Club at all, let alone at such a critical stage of the season.

Fans may point to the fact that Wrexham gave him his break and say he should show some loyalty.

Others will point to the fact that if he takes Wrexham up he will have a promotion on his CV which will potentially lead to better job offers, and he will have Football League management to look forward to. It could also be argued that Walsall are struggling in their division while Wrexham are doing well in theirs.

There are a lot of ‘ifs’ in there, not least of all ‘if Wrexham get promoted’, but football is not like other occupations whereby if you are good at your job you can almost plot a career and can afford to wait for the next job to come along.

There is no certainty that another job will come up; there is even less certainty about the value of a manager’s stock when another job does eventually come along.

In football you have to grab the opportunity in the instant that it exists.

You have to make a decision fairly quickly about whether or not to jump trains.

Dean joined Walsall from school. He left after seven years which included the promotion year I was there. He rejoined them four years later when the club was at a low point and once again took them up only this time as captain and player of the year.

In short, as much as he has history with Wrexham he also has history with Walsall. He is from Walsall. As much as Walsall may be seen as ‘struggling’, they are six points clear of the relegation zone, are not in danger of going down and are currently 36 places higher in the league tables than Wrexham.

While Wrexham are undoubtedly ‘bigger’ than some clubs in League One, they are not at that level at the moment.

Walsall are, and are likely to stay there – playing the likes of Portsmouth, Blackburn, Wigan, Blackpool and Charlton, who have all appeared in the Premier League.

Oh, and they will pay more!

Dean denied having had any contact with Walsall earlier in the week, but whenever contact was made he would have needed no time at all to make his decision.

He had to go, and we should all wish him the very best for the future and take pride in the fact that he is the latest name to be added to a long list of people working in football at all levels – from physiotherapists, coaches, scouts, administrators and players to an England age-group World Cup-winning coach – who have started out at Wrexham Football Club.

As for the immediate future, nobody should under-estimate the contribution to the team’s success so far this season of Dean’s assistants Andy Davies and Carl Darlington.

The team are in safe, trusted hands as they continue their quest for promotion.

Good luck Dean, and good luck Wrexham FC.

[Royal welsh red]

Sound like Barry Horne trying to take some credit for something he had flip all to do with.

[Red Light]

I just hope we leave things in the hands of Davies & Darlington.
There are some real strange names being linked with us who have probably not seen a National League game ever or for some time - Sinclair, Bellamy, Fowler etc - would much rather have people in charge who are 'our own' who have the love of the club at heart - and I honestly believe Darlington is the brains in the camp - poorly treated by Mills - we should keep what we already have instead of smashing down the foundations and starting all over again with men who have never mixed mortar at this level (or any level) before.

Looking for a reaction at Woking this afternoon - team selection, tactics and outcome will be interesting without DK.

[Funny_Old_Game]

Doesn’t dispel any of the stories of Horne being a ridiculously arrogant individual.

Spends half of that talking about himself and his greatness.

[RHYLRED]

Originally Posted by Funny_Old_Game

Doesn’t dispel any of the stories of Horne being a ridiculously arrogant individual.

Spends half of that talking about himself and his greatness.

I don't even know how you understand what he's saying, never heard someone mumble more than he does.

[Alan Attack]

I struggle to see why people make Horne out to be the bad guy. The last 15 years of supporting club have given us a myriad of crooks to despise but Horne is not one of these people.

[GarryOggy]

Originally Posted by Alan Attack

I struggle to see why people make Horne out to be the bad guy. The last 15 years of supporting club have given us a myriad of crooks to despise but Horne is not one of these people.

Never came across as arrogant when I have met him.

[the_holt_dragon]

I agree with most of what Horne said. I'm not however convinced that a promotion with Wrexham would have got him a better job than Walsall.

[jimmy1989]

Originally Posted by Funny_Old_Game

Doesn’t dispel any of the stories of Horne being a ridiculously arrogant individual.

Spends half of that talking about himself and his greatness.

I thought that too. What an egotistical moron!!
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