Steelers boss says don't blame Rob Wilson

Mar 12 2010 by Neil Farrington, The Journal

NEWCASTLE Vipers’ beleaguered management team have been hailed as saviours for keeping the cash-strapped Tyneside franchise afloat.

As the Vipers’ form on the ice goes into meltdown, TV pundit and former Sheffield Steelers team manager David Simms has spoken out in support of Newcastle coach Rob Wilson and general manager Jaimie Longmuir.

Wilson’s men risk finishing bottom of the Elite League after three successive defeats – two of them by current basement club Hull Stingrays.

That has prompted talk of a boycott among fans angered by the Vipers’ seemingly inexorable slide as the play-offs approach. But Simms, a Sky Sports analyst and now Steelers’ PR manager, is insistent that Wilson has achieved a minor miracle in keeping Newcastle in business – because he is “working with nothing”.

“There’s an old saying in hockey: ‘You can’t make chicken soup out of chicken you-know-what,’” said Simms. “And Rob Wilson hasn’t had the quality to put a consistent run together. He’s done a fantastic job keeping that whole Newcastle Vipers ship afloat and he should be credited for that, and the general manager Jaimie Longmuir as well.”

Simms added: “The Vipers have had great goaltending and Michel Robinson’s had a fantastic year. Earlier in the season, some people were talking about the Vipers as a possible top-four team, but you could tell that there was no way that they could hold on because they don’t have the quality and no finishing touch.

“It’s not a good team and has overachieved at times. Rob must be pulling his hair out because he’s working with nothing – he’s working with limited quality and small numbers and he’s doing his level best.

“I think they’re a seventh-placed club and that’s probably where they’ll be.”

THE Vipers host Edinburgh Capitals at Whitley Bay Ice Rink tomorrow night (face-off 6.30pm). Tickets are available in advance from the club shop in Shakespeare Street, Newcastle, by telephone on 0191 261 0909 or online at www.vipershockey.co.uk