Dryden battling to climb above doom and gloom

9:29pm Wednesday 27th August 2008

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By Michael Reeves »

WORCESTER City manager Richard Dryden is refusing to let the turmoil at the club get him down as he bids to get the club’s new campaign back on track.

The St George’s Lane chief says that there is a negative air surrounding the Blue Squ-are South outfit at present and there is a danger that it could overshadow the season.

With a power struggle in the boardroom and hopes of a comprise between the club’s current directors and the Shareholders Action Group at a stalemate, life at the Lane is looking rather bleak at present.

“There is a lot of negativity from the top right down to the bottom,” Dryden said. “If we dwell on that we’ll end up going under.

“It’s all doom and gloom and I’m not going to get dragged in to that — all this doesn’t make my job any easier.”

The City boss has also had to come to the defence of his skipper Craig Wilding for the second time in a week after the striker, who is playing as an emergency right winger due to an injury to Matt Dodd, has received heavy criticism from certain sections of the crowd.

Dryden admits that the 26-year-old is not suited to playing out wide, but due to the size of his squad he has asked the former Chesterfield man to take up the mantle.

Wilding, who starts a three-match ban following his sending-off against Weston-super-Mare next Saturday, has struggled out on the wing, but Dryden wants the boo-boys to lay off.

“It seems like everyone is waiting for certain people to make a mistake,” he said.

“Craig is a good player and I don’t care how strong or mentally tough you are, if you get the same people hammering him when he makes a mistake it isn’t going to help anybody.

“It’s poor, it’s an easy way out. If he does something great no-one says anything, but if there is a stray pass or he doesn’t win a header he gets hammered.

“It’s not just Craig, but you’ve got to remember how much we have got to spend on players and we have done the best we can with what we have got.

“I get a little bit upset for my players because I’ll back them to the hilt.

“It might help some fans to go home and say ‘I’ve hammered someone today’ it was great in the stands, but it doesn’t help my team out there.

“Give them a little bit of support. I don’t want to sound like I’m hammering the fans, because I’m not — the majority have been great, but I’m disappointed that certain players are earmarked to get hammered before we even kick off.”