Derry City Chairman backs Peter Hutton and answers THAT question

Derry City Chairman Philip O’Doherty has insisted that he and the Board of Directors are fully behind manager Peter Hutton.

Addressing the growing discontent amongst the club’s supporters with the teams’ poor results and their worrying league position, O’Doherty revealed his own frustrations, but expressed his confidence in the current manager to turn things around. He also expressed his hope that the manager will bring in at least one more striker before the transfer window ends next week.

The Derry City Chairman also called on the clubs’ supporters to get behind the team in their hour of need and addressed the issue of his own contributions to the club.

On Peter Hutton

“Peter is the manager and we certainly hope he can turn it around and keep us in the Premier Division. I’m confident he can.”

On his contributions to the club

“I’ve put a lot of money into the club. I’ve contributed to the club since I came in. The previous boards fired in loads of money and when they ran out of money they stopped paying bills and went bust. I’m not going to go down that road. The other thing about a sugar daddy is that if he ever goes, he’s left behind a system that’s totally out of control and the club would go bust again, so I want to do something that’s realistic and build up a structure that’s sustainable. That word sustainable is very important but I’ve certainly contributed money every year.”

On the Brandywell redevelopment

"We’ve been told that the Glentoran Stand demolition will begin in the next two weeks. That’s s positive sign. It’s long overdue but I’ll be delighted to get the diggers in there. We have to see the redevelopment as a major improvement in facilities which will hopefully mean a major improvement in gates and being able to attract players. When they compare our facilities to others in Ireland, it’s embarrassing. It certainly doesn’t help bringing a player here because when he looks at those facilities and if it’s a 50-50 decision, he’s going to go the other way, whereas if we had the facilities we are going to have in 18-24 months hopefully we’ll attract more players."

On fans’ discontent

"I do get stick but it goes with the territory. I understand the frustration. I know there was a bit of booing last week and I understand it. I don’t like it but I understand it, but the board is determined to see this through and I’m determined to see this through, and I don’t think we’re going to be relegated. I think it would be a great morale booster for the them if greater numbers turned up to support the team. It was a very poor crowd last week and it doesn’t really help people not coming to games so I would encourage fans to come back and support us for the rest of the season. It works both ways but either they support the team or they don’t."

See Thursday’s Derry News for the full interview