From my perspective Waggott was just another one on the Sisu payroll who ultimately beat the Sisu drum.
He did, I suppose, become the acceptable face of Sisu in many fans’ eyes – or should that be the acceptable voice of Sisu. He had a more down to earth appeal than someone with Fishers privileged background.
Ultimately, however, his achievements are few and far between. His first big test was with deciding on Thorn’s fate when in the championship. He made the wrong choice and kept with the clueless individual. Then, even worse, after Thorns car crash management style he offers him a new deal, only to wake up a few weeks in and dismiss him, at a cost no doubt, that should have been avoided. No plan to replace him meant dithering and the crucial first season in League One was wrecked before it had even started. For this action alone, he should have lost his job.
The impression you get with Waggott is that he always wanted to be a manager and was far more comfortable operating with the likes of Thorn and Pressley than a Robins and certainly a Mowbray. He could sign hapless tripe like Malaga, Edjuingele, Brown all day long. He must have cost the club a fortune in cancelled contracts. He was an abject failure in the role he was supposed to be paid for.
His “credit” for the Ricoh deal also should be scrutinised. It is inconceivable that Sisu and the council were not already aware of the Wasps involvement. That deal meant the club no longer had to deal with the council and is the only reason the parties talked. It is also inconceivable that the arrangement was not going to have the approval of the incoming landlord. So Waggott was again the public face behind the deal. It should also be noted he was more than complicit with the move to Sixfields , and always publically played the company line. As he always did.
One suspect’s the appointment of Mowbray exposed his shortcoming and led to his demise. Mowbray, under a similar budget to his predecessor, changed the structure and built a winning team. His comments regarding the lack of structure when he arrived were particularly damning and telling.
Waggott was wasteful with his budget, poor at player recruitment and dire at understanding the infrastructure required to build a successful club.
He may have plaudits from those who fail to see the wood from the trees. He may to some be a football visionary – the saviour of English football. After all it says so in a press article;
http://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/34577/Is-this-man-the-real-saviour-of-English-football
Others, including I suspect, the new manager may have come to a different conclusion.
