Corney still has hands firmly on Latics rudder

ANTHONY GEE . . . sympathy for fans after John Sheridan's exit

SIMON Corney remains very much committed to his role at Athletic, the club have insisted, after "throwing everything" at the survival bid last term.

The shock exit of manager John Sheridan to Notts County, the loss of most of the first-team squad and the late arrival of new boss Stephen Robinson only four weeks ago created a storm of controversy during the off-season, with a group of fans even picketing the club in protest.

COMPARED
Despite numerous setbacks which see Athletic around two weeks in arrears in terms of pre-season preparations compared to their rivals, New York-based club chairman Corney kept his counsel throughout.

According to fellow director and close confidant Anthony Gee, his silence should not be mistaken for a lack of interest after an association with the club that has spanned 12 years.

"Simon might be 3,000 miles away for half the month, but modern technology dictates he is never more than a call away," Gee told the Chronicle.

"He is still very active and it is not right that he has disappeared or lost interest. It is not true at all.

"Emotionally and financially, we threw everything at it last season to try to stay up.

"You saw bigger teams than us go down.

"We had a situation this season where, unfortunately, John Sheridan left and we had to pick things up from there. It left us a week or two behind where we wanted to be."

Anthony Gerrard was the most high-profile arrival last time out in a costly rescue mission which saw Sheridan steer the club away from the drop zone, while Liam Kelly stayed on despite strong interest in his services at the turn of the year.

With safety assured, skipper Kelly has since moved on, to Leyton Orient, along with Joel Coleman (Huddersfield) and youth team prospect Chris Renshaw (Everton), all for undisclosed fees.

Athletic's power-brokers are open with the fact that balancing the books has to be a fact of life as it stands.

There is also, Gee says, plenty of sympathy with those fans who felt let down by Sheridan's exit and all that followed.

"It is totally understandable," he said, when asked about the supporter unrest. "It wasn't our intention that he (Sheridan) should leave. It has been well-documented we didn't want him to leave and it left us in a situation where we had a lot of players not in contract.

'RIGHT MAN'

"It would not have been right for us to start signing players ourselves as a board, without a manager. We had to wait to get the right man and we think we have got the right man."

Athletic believe that in Stephen Robinson, they have found a suitable leader of a team featuring vast know-how.

"They have all bedded in very well," Gee said. "Steve has been working literally 18-hour days for the last two weeks and Ian Baraclough has also come in and the two are working really well together.

"Sean (O'Driscoll) is a steadying hand. A man of experience who has a great ability to spot a player, to spot weaknesses and strengths and get the most out of people.

'INCREDIBLE'

"Lee Turnbull is doing a great job as our head of recruitment. He has an incredible, encyclopaedic knowledge of players, not just in England but throughout Europe."

"'Robbo' and his team are incredibly thorough in the way they look at players and what they demand. They know what they are looking for.

"Just because we were short of players, we have not taken the first options that have come along.

"All the management team are having a big impact."