We can be the next Rotherham

Mark Guterman

Adrian Bryan and Ian Hughes meet Mark Guterman...

Setting: It's 2:15pm, prior to the Kidderminster Harriers game on December 21st 2002. Mark Guterman and David Rhodes are in the Secretary's office at The Racecourse with Red Passion. Amidst the match day chaos, reporters Adrian Bryan and Ian Hughes manage to grab a quick 15 minutes of the chairman's time to ask him a few questions.

Red Passion: Welcome to Red Passion, Mr Guterman.
Mark Guterman: 'Thank you, it's a good read - I read it every month!'

RP: You've come into football at a time when finances are precarious to say the least. What interested you to come back in to football at this time?
MG: 'I love football.'
David Rhodes (chipping in): 'I made him!'
MG: 'I was talked into it by Mr. Rhodes and Co! Only joking. I've always had a soft spot for Wrexham. Just killing one point. I was born in Manchester, not Chester. I was born a Manchester United fan, but I love football. I have been to see Wrexham many times over the years. I also have experience of lower-league football and appreciate sides who play good football.'

RP: Good football is one of the reasons why you have given Denis Smith a new contract for two years. What are your opinions on him?
MG: 'I believe he's doing a good job for the club. I think he's starting to get something together now, that's why the board have given him a new contract.'

RP: We agree. There have, however, been fans who have suggested that perhaps you should have waited for promotion, then negotiated.
MG: 'Look, Hartlepool have just appointed Mike Newell as boss. Who's to say Denis wasn't the man for them? You can't let that happen.'

RP: So you have to act now and take the chance while it's there?
MG: 'You have to take a chance when it's there. You have to pay a proper wage and look after your staff. He's doing a good job for us, he's never looked for anything for himself. What I particularly like about him is that he's doing an all-round job, he's out every night of the week - he looks at it as a way of life, not just a job.'

RP: What the fans like is that he always takes the time to talk to them. He's been to a few WINS meetings - he doesn't have to do that but he always makes the time.
MG: 'Certainly, I'd like to come to speak to WINS as well, definitely. Time has been a problem so far.'

RP: How do you see WINS? 
MG: 'Of course I'm pro-WINS! It's a fantastic thing. Every bit helps the club. The situation with the money for players has been fantastic.'

RP: Will there be any movement for loan players in the future? 
MG: 'We keep asking Denis: "Do you want a loan player?" He doesn't want a loan player! You can't force him, he wants team spirit.'

RP: You give WINS the thumbs up?
MG: 'Of course! It's great, fantastic, you can't say more. It's pro-active, it's got loads of great ideas. I read some of the ideas but, of course, there are loads of reasons why ideas that sound great on the outside just can't work when you're on the inside.'

RP: So you're saying it's all about pulling together?
MG: 'At the end of the day everyone inside this club is desperate to win. We're all fans. I mean, yes, it's bad, it hurts, but it's all about passion, as is wanting to win.'

RP: It was interesting to read in the press your comments that you have never been so passionate about a team as you are now.
MG: 'Well, I got shouted down by a load of Carlisle fans the other day, they're a hostile bunch! All because I jumped up when we scored. I wanted us to win, that's what it's all about.'

RP: Can we ask you about the current situation regarding directors? With some leaving, is there any more movement? 
MG: 'Well, everyone seems to be putting a different spin on it. The official statement we released said, "as and when the time was right." The people who left did a fantastic job. As and when the time comes and we find the right person it will happen. There's nothing personal at all. The three directors who left all did a great job for the club. I've got an advantage in football in terms of coming in now, with the problems of finance. I understand the changes I can and can't make. I really want to bring the club up to date.'

RP: The first area you targeted was the commercial side. Is this about bringing the club up to date?
MG: 'Yes, definitely.'

RP: With regards to increasing club finances, can you elaborate on your comments on wage-capping?
MG: 'Well, wage-capping is going to happen. There's been a lot of nonsense written about it, but it is going to happen.' >>>>>

RP: I think we all agree that it is the only way forward. I mean the only club who have done it successfully over the last 10-15 years is Man United!
DR: 'We've done it last season to be fair and for this season.'
MG: 'Let me explain how it works. Forget whether you think it's right or wrong. It is going to happen. The government have helped bail out some of these first division clubs, and, yes, they've given us little bits. But part of the deal for the government is that clubs sort out their own houses. They're working on the basis of straight profit turnover. Now I doubt whether we get a tenth of our income from off-field activities - we need to be sensible and do better. We've got to move with the times and look at the advantages we have got. People have asked: "Is this in, is this out?" We have got a blank piece of paper to get Wrexham into a higher division in the next year or so.'

RP: This year hopefully!
MG: 'Hopefully! And to then move upwards. The only way is to put the main focus on the survival of the club. There's nothing in and there's nothing out - we have to stay flexible.'

RP: Surely the easiest way to increase income is to get bigger crowds, this is a problem we have suffered for years.
MG: 'True, but I can't rely on that. In the past I've tried to attract bigger crowds in other situations and we're going to look at this.'
DR: 'We've been slated a bit this year, people saying that the home crowds have dropped. It's actually not true. Home crowds have gone up this year - it's just that the away support has gone down. Home supporters are coming back; it's increasing slowly.'

RP: It's frustrating when you get a game like Everton, where we fill the stadium, the team play well, but still the crowds don't come back.
DR: 'I know, it drives me potty!'
MG: 'Let's not dwell on the negatives, yes we are a small club, let's look at the positives.'

RP: We are a Welsh club in North Wales, with the potential for a large fan base and catchment area and a unique trading ID.
MG: 'And that's something I want to build on, but I'm not going down the Sam Hamman tribalism road, that just causes trouble. I'm a bit of a political animal! I want to start pushing for a European spot through the FAW Premier Cup; we'd have to win it first though, maybe Cardiff would take note then.'

RP: Does all the negativity frustrate you?
MG: 'The problem is that you sometimes listen to people and they say: "Oh, we are only Wrexham". Let's go for it, we can't win all the time, but similarly we can't stand still, we've got to move forward.'

RP: Can we ask you something that you might not find easy to talk about - your time at Chester?
MG: 'Yes'.

RP: It was well publicised, and surely you learnt a lot, how can this help Wrexham?
MG: 'Well, I find it quite easy to talk about, I lost £1.2 million of my own money. I tried to spend my way to promotion.'

RP: We presume that you had to explain the situation to Pryce Griffiths?
MG: 'Yes'.
DR: 'Well, I think the first thing to put to bed is the story that Mr Guterman was the man who moved Chester to their new stadium. That happened before he joined them. But some people don't want to know that!'

RP: Do you feel then that you have something to prove? 
MG: 'There's part of me that wants to show everyone, to prove them wrong, I've identified problems here.'

RP: The state of the club when you arrived did seem fairly precarious.
MG: 'I paid players' wages for three months before I came in. That's what this club means to me.'

RP: Can we quickly ask about the future and where you see us?
MG: 'I'd like to be in the second division next year - if not, certainly the year after.'

RP: Pretend this is the year 2010. Where are Wrexham?
DR: 'We're in the first division of the European Super League!'
MG: 'Certainly the first division. As a role-model, possibly Rotherham - a small club with a good manager that's going forward. Maybe an FA Cup quarter-final.'

RP: Don't mention that, it still makes us cry!
MG: 'OK, maybe a League Cup final.'

RP: Thanks for talking to Red Passion.