Wilcox Appointment Causes Clash At Bournemouth

02 December 2011 14:11
Bournemouth confirmed the appointment of our former assistant manager Russ Wilcox as their assistant manager this week and it was news that brought yet more animosity between the Dorset club and their local newspaper.

It seems that, no matter what happens at Bournemouth, the Bournemouth Echo and the club seem to be at loggerheads and this appointment brought more rebuke for the Echo from both the Bournemouth chairman and manager.

When Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall left for Turf Moor in January they appointed Lee Bradbury as the new manager with Steven Fletcher as his assistant. Fletcher, however, stood down recently and that brought about this vacancy.

With the appointment of Wilcox, the Bournemouth Echo were quick to highlight that Wilcox was not first choice and that manager Bradbury wanted former Portsmouth manager Graham Rix but saw his move blocked by the Bournemouth board who preferred Peterborough coach Mark Robson until he ruled himself out.

Chairman Eddie Mitchell said on reading the Echo story: "Yet again I have woken up this morning to be told that the Daily Echo have published unsubstantiated and damaging lies on the back pages, and it seems to me they are hell bent on destroying the great feeling we currently have at this club."

Manager Bradbury added: "I do get increasingly frustrated by some of the things that are written in the local press, and this has really shocked me. If a publication isn't privy to our interview process and can't even get close to guessing some of the candidates we interviewed then why would they know anything about who was our first, second or third choice?

"I've really enjoyed the process of finding myself an assistant, and when it came down to it Russ was the unanimous decision for both myself and Tom Mitchell, who has been helping me conduct the interviews.

"It's a very strange approach by our local paper to consistently put the club down, and I can only hope that the supporters take their stories with a pinch of salt."

Wilcox received a glowing testament from Brian Laws and it was with Laws that he came to Turf Moor in January 2010 as our assistant manager, having previously worked alongside Laws at both Scunthorpe United and Sheffield Wednesday. He has now joined Bournemouth on a contract until the end of next season.

Source: FOOTYMAD