'Ultimately Tilson's time in charge of Lincoln was catastrophic' insists Imps supremo

 

Remember when we were told that 'Tilson is an Imp, thank you Ron Martin', well, old Uncle Ron can look back at that one and feel a touch smug, though the rest of us should feel sympathy with the Shrimpers ex-manager, we can rightly look back at some of the local fansites up there at the time and smile.

 

Former Southend United boss Steve Tilson has been the Lincoln City boss for just short of a year, and has overseen their relegation into the Blue Square Premier, picked up three wins out of 14 in this season's fifth tier, and along with assistant Paul Brush, has now been sacked.

 

Where does that leave his reputation? Is he still a legend amongst the Roots Hall faithful?

 

He should be of course, amongst those with longer memories than a couple of years.

 

As an Essex boy, one criticism is that Tilly couldn't build a team in Lincolnshire, didn't have the contacts stuck up there.

 

Seemed to be nothing wrong with the players spirit when Ashely Grimes got their winner last March at Sincil Bank and the squad, on and off the pitch, ran over to Tilly for a mass hug; talk of the play-offs then, couldn't Blues boss Paul Sturrock read his tactics said the Imps message boards, you've handed us the better boss on a plate.

 

Shame they didn't win another game in that doomed campaign, and they certainly can't say that now!  

 

Imps Chairman Bob Dorrian has spoken to www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk   about "two or three weeks of indecision" before Tilly took them out of the Football League five months ago, then eventually deciding to lower the axe on the pair last week, after giving them every opportunity to turn the good ship Lincoln around, he insists.

 

Dorrian said: "It's been a time of indecision for the board over the last two or three weeks whether we kept Steve and Paul. We tried very hard. We were very patient with them and we desperately wanted them to succeed. But it came very clear to us at the end that he was struggling to turn things round. When the final coup de grace game, it was almost a relief to him. I think he has been struggling for a while. The chemistry between him, the team and the football club has not been there, probably from day one. As a consequence of that, it has not really worked out for him."

 

Many believed it was always inevitable that T&B wouldn't settle at Sincil Bank, though it didn't seem that way when City were winning six on the trot, I remember one Imp saying when they came back from two down at Aldershot to draw 2-2 how tough the team were now under the pair, oh well, and certainly Dorrian believes that's the case. 

 

He continued: "It's very sad, but we were left with no choice. The board's philosophy has always been to nurture a manager, keep him going and let him build a side slowly but surely. As long as we are seeing progress, then the board are more than happy to let a manager build a side over two or three seasons. But given the fact he took us out of the Football League, I thought we did very, very, well to stick to our principles and give him another go. Of course I regret it now, but we are always wiser in hindsight."

 

Good luck on whoever takes over, and we hope Tilly finds another position soon enough, though the latest mud that the Imps supremo is throwing at the Wickford born manager is, as ever with Steve, all about the money!

 

The following is an interview with the local paper that can be found in full here: www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk 

 

Q: You said that Steve Tilson's time in charge of Lincoln City had cost the club £1m. That is an astonishing figure. Can you break it down for us?

 

 

 

 

 

Q: Given that Steve Tilson has had financial compensation for having his contract terminated, were the board disappointed, that, in light of the club's financial problems, he did not resign?

 

 

 

Q: Steve Tilson is another manager that has reaped the benefit of a contractual pay-up, can the club continue to keep doing this and will you look at the structure of managerial contracts?

 

A: No we cannot afford it. We need a root and branch operation at this football club and what has gone on before goes completely out the window. There will be no money thrown about anywhere. But on the contractual issues, it is a big learning curve for us in the Conference.

 

 

 

 

Q: Did that make it even more disappointing then that Steve Tilson continually mentioned his budget and was frustrated by the fact that four players were taking up 40 per cent of it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course it was Bob; then again, as Tilly's old club sit second in League Two, with hardly a player left from his regime, we can afford to be subjective about what's going on 130-odd miles away, and just wish Tilly and Brush the best of luck in the future.