IAIN O’CONNELL has ten games to save Great Wakering Rovers from relegation to Step 5 with the club admitting he faces an “extremely hard task”.
O’Connell, a former Rovers player and manager, has been brought back to the club to replace Keith Wilson, who was sacked on Monday evening.
However, he was unable to turn the club’s fortunes around and they are now bottom of the Ryman North after a run of nine defeats in 11 games.
Rovers have just ten league games left and will need an almighty turnaround if they are to avoid relegation with the club currently 12 points adrift of safety.
O’Connell returns to Rovers ahead of Saturday’s home game against Soham Town Rangers, who sit one place above the relegation zone.
A Great Wakering statement read: “The Rovers committee met tonight (Monday) to discuss recent results and performances and agreed by majority decision to sack Keith Wilson as first team manager. It was not a decision taken lightly, with a must-win crunch game against Soham Town Rangers in just five days time.
“However, we felt the need to make a bold decision due to a run of results that has seen us record just two points from 30, drop to the bottom of the table and see the gap increase between us and second from bottom Wroxham.
“The committee would like to thank Keith Wilson for his hard work and effort in what has been a very difficult time and wish him all the best for the future.
“Next, we wanted to move quickly to bring in a replacement and despite a small shortlist being drawn up, we felt one person stood out. We contacted Iain O’Connell immediately and he thankfully accepted.
“Whilst we agree that Iain has an extremely hard task to save the club from relegation, our decision was also based on who we felt could lead the charge for promotion from the Essex Senior League, should we be relegated this season.”
