Tom McKenna feels he still had a lot to offer Wick Academy and the end to his time as manager was premature.
After discussions with the committee and chairman Pat Miller, McKenna stepped down as manager on Thursday last week.
It brought to an end a two-and-a-half-year tenure at Harmsworth Park, with the club announcing on Wednesday that long-serving player Gary Manson would take over on an interim basis.
McKenna said there were certain issues behind the scenes that had contributed to the club’s inconsistent season but ultimately, he leaves with a sense of unfinished business.
He said: “It was a difficult decision for me to make. A lot of things came to head; we went through a lot of issues internally and that had created disharmony in the dressing room. These were issues behind the scenes we had to deal with.
“The club is going through a transition period with one chairman and another and it can bring unsettlement to the club. As a group, we experienced that as well.
“People were questioning results and it’s a results-orientated business. It’s been an inconsistent season but we’re in ninth place just now and only five points different from last year, which the club regarded as a respectable season.
“I’m really disappointed that it’s come to this and feel I had a lot more to offer the club. One day, I would like to go back as I feel I have unfinished business with Wick Academy.”
McKenna added that at times during his tenure, he had felt like walking away from the job but the commitment of the players kept him going.
He added: “When you work with a group of boys with their work ethic, it motivated me to keep fighting with them. You’re thinking ‘I’m asking these boys not to give up, I have to show that as a manager’. It’s the easiest thing to walk away and the hardest is to keep on battling. They did inspire me to keep on going.
“It’s been a hard year for me and those behind the scenes know how difficult it’s been. I would like to have seen it through but I wish them all the best.
“I have learned you need to be thick-skinned, as you’re constantly being questioned and assessed. At the end of the day people are passionate about their football club and being passionate about the game myself, I can understand that.”
A lack of coaching resources – he and assistant Richard Hughes took the majority of training sessions this season – hampered preparations, he feels. But it will be Manson and another ex-Wick player in Stewart Ross that will take the team until the end of the campaign.
McKenna said: “I look at teams above us that have massive budgets and catchment areas. For this club to be successful, so many variable have to work and for that all to materialise is a big ask. But in my two-and-a-half years, if we’ve got our strongest team out we’ve shown we can get results.”
