Michael Renwick

We have seen a slight improvement in the last month or so at Berwick, but despite this most fans would still like to see the back of Michael Renwick. Last month I ran poll asking you how long you'd give Renwick, 44 of you voted and 63% of you said that the BRFC Board should sack him right now!

A few of you (20%) said you would give him the summer to get a squad together to make a challenge for the Third Division title, but if we didn't start the season well that would be the end for Renwick. The remainder of the people voting said that they would be happy to give him next season or even longer.

I do think that some of the comments levelled at the guy on P&B have been a bit strong, but I can understand why people want him out. At the time, the appointment seemed a little bit mis-guided and a big risk.

One thing that sticks in my mind when I see all the critisism of Renwick is something which happened nearly ten years ago. Paul Smith had been in the hot seat for over a year and despite some big name signings (such as Marc Anthony and Kevin Magee), we had a dreadful start to the season which saw us second bottom at the end of September 1999.

There were a few of us who organised a protest at an away game at Forfar, which involved a 'SMITH OUT' banner and we called for Jamie Curle to give him the bullet. But Jamie stuck with his rookie manager and Paul Smith ended up proving us wrong with a promotion in April 2000. He went on to be the third most successful Berwick manager, enjoying some good Second Division campaigns and cup games against Rangers, Falkirk and Hearts.

It just makes me hope that if we are going to keep Michael Renwick on until next season, he proves us all very wrong.