Memories are made of these . . .

Neil Joy

NEIL Joy on . . .

THE Johnstone's Paint Trophy disappointment of 2012:

"The Chesterfield semi-final and Tommy Lee stands out, as a lowlight really. We thought we were going to Wembley and things might have been different if we had. You can get momentum from different sources.

"It affected the chairman badly at the time and it knocks the stuffing out of you and makes it hard to bounce back."



TAKING over from Alan Hardy:

"He still is Mr Latics in many ways as an ambassador for the club. I worked with Alan for a long time beforehand.

"Alan had me, whereas I didn't have anyone helping out and we had to start from scratch, which made it difficult at first.

"For three months I was the chief executive, football secretary, accountant and book keeper. That's almost four full-time jobs these days."



THE impact of the daunting Ched Evans saga:
"It was only for five days and it died down pretty quickly.

"It might have affected the way the club was perceived and it may have lost trust with some supporters. A lot were very upset at the way it was handled.

"I don't think that was the catalyst for the year we have just had. Lee Johnson was still here and we put it to one side and moved on."

MAKING mistakes with managers:

"All the decisions taken at the time felt like the right ones. Look at the example of Tony Mowbray at Coventry. Nobody can say he's not a good manager, yet Coventry have struggled and he has resigned.

"It happens. It isn't always the manager's fault when things don't go well. We are in a competitive division."


THE FA Cup run of 2013:
"It my first real cup experience as chief executive. We beat Nottingham Forest in the third round and that was a fantastic experience and one the fans really enjoyed.

"We were losing 1-0 and it could have been more at half-time. It meant a lot to the club as financially, it was struggling - and I mean really struggling.

"We came back to win 3-2 and the 3,000 fans behind the goal created a great atmosphere. They kept us going.

"We then got Liverpool at home and that contains one of my best memories."