Tony Philliskirk (pictured) has confided that Brian Talbot’s comments after Athletic lost to Stockport County played a part in his downfall. Talbot said that, “it would have been better for me personally if Athletic had been relegated last year.” This statement lost Talbot the confidence of the players support and Philliskirk admitted that tensions had grown in the Latics camp. The caretaker manager revealed, “I’m not stabbing Brian in the back but his comments last Saturday didn’t go down very well. He regretted them, but let’s just say I wasn’t surprised by the performance when we lost our next game 5–1 at Bristol City. I was piggy in the middle because I was trying to work for Brian and, at the same time, I had players coming to me after reading the paper. If the players aren’t on your side, you are struggling and ultimately I’m not sure the players were on his side.”