Latics owner and chairman Simon Corney has given an interview which hints that his tenure at Boundary Park could be over if Athletic are relegated.
The interview revealed his thoughts as Corney admitted, “I used to make predictions but now I take it day to day, even hour by hour. We’ll have a new stand — that’s why I’m here, I want to get that built. If I then leave when the stand is built I can go with my head held high. Some may argue whether I’ll have achieved anything - we were in League One when I arrived - but this stand will help generate income that can help project us to the top of the division. It may, with the right manager, give us an opportunity to get in the play-offs or even secure automatic promotion and Championship football. Who knows? If we got relegated I’d also go because, I’d look at that as failure. If it goes down under my watch then I don't think I would be here. I don’t even want to contemplate that though, because I love being here. It’s a great club with a good fan base.”
Speaking of the players contracts he said, “In one or two cases it’s out of our hands. A couple of agents have already indicated players won’t be staying, so what can you do? It’s not a case of money; we’re not able to compete with Championship clubs. There are four or five players we do need to tie down - but if we try to start next season with the basis of what we’ve already got, we've got a very good base to build on.”