‘Devastating’ - says Corney

Reporter: by MATTHEW CHAMBERS
Date published: 09 December 2014


SIMON Corney has described Athletic’s second cup exit in 12 days as a waking nightmare.

The chairman wasn’t present to watch as Doncaster sunk the club in the second round of the FA Cup at SportsDirect.com Park on Saturday.

But while still backing Lee Johnson’s side to be involved in the shake-up for a top-six place in Sky Bet League One come the end of the season, Corney told the Chronicle that the impact of the defeat to Paul Dickov’s men will be keenly felt by all at the club.

And with rivals for the top six, Preston and Sheffield United, still involved in the competition, the extra revenue potential for those clubs could mean that they are able to strengthen in the forthcoming transfer window — while Athletic will find it a struggle.

“I think we will be there or thereabouts this season, I really do,” said Corney, who is currently in New York.

“We are in a great position in the league, especially if you look at who we have played away from home.

“But so much of this game is mental. How much do we really want it?

“With Preston knocking us out of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy as well, we have suffered two really gut-wrenching losses inside two weeks.

“The manager feels it passionately, the players feel down and for the people who work at the club and speaking for the board, it has been a nightmare.

“We are up there near the top of the division, but it feels as if we’ve had the stuffing knocked out of us.

“It’s devastating. Doncaster was a winnable game for us and if we had performed as well as we can, we would have won.

“With a good side like Middlesbrough (Capital One Cup), you hold your hands up and accept it. But Doncaster are down in the bottom third of our division, one in which we have shown we have the talent to be more than a match for anyone.

“It was a game that was there for us to win.

“We had the extra rest, compared to Doncaster having a derby against Barnsley in midweek.

“But we didn't really show up — and we are gutted about it.

“The season has gone from being fantastic to being promising.”

Athletic brought in goalkeeper Paddy Kenny and development forward Tom Youngs ahead of the recent deadline, adding to Daniel Johnson and Jabo Ibehre as relatively recent loan arrivals to the squad.

But with only league matches now providing revenue through the turnstiles, the chairman said further arrivals in the New Year will prove difficult while remaining within financial fair play rules.

And he also defended the level of budget provided to the manager.

Corney added: “Everyone talks about bringing in a new striker. But it’s only if you have income that you can spend.

“Now, do we have to sell or get rid of loan players? We are totally dependent on crowds or other revenues.

“Sheffield United made it through and that might mean they can go and spend another £100,000.

“Nobody believes we will win the FA Cup, but progressing in that competition gives us the revenue to reinforce the squad.

“We don't have a low budget, it’s important to make that clear. If you take the ratio of our home crowd to the amount we spend, we are in the top three in the division for sure and maybe even top.

“We get crowds of 3,800, but we have still managed to bring in players recently like Paddy Kenny and Daniel Johnson on loan.

“I am not complaining about anything or anyone. I just want to educate people who say we should just go out and spend. We do push the boundaries here.”

Ahead of Saturday’s home game with Yeovil in League One, Genseric Kusunga missed training yesterday with a slight hamstring strain which shouldn’t prove much of a problem.