In Conversation with .... Danny Wilson, manager 2000-04

At age 37 and in only his third season as a manager, Danny Wilson led unfashionable Barnsley to promotion to the Premier League.

Barnsley may have only lasted one season in the top flight but Danny went on to manage his former club Sheffield Wednesday, in the Premier League themselves and a club he had served well as a player. When City went looking for a manager in the summer of 2000 after the debacle of Lennartsson, Pulis, & Fawthrop, the friendly Northern Irishman Wilson seemed an inspired choice to lead City back to the Championship.

Danny had 4 seasons at Ashton Gate with a win rate of 46% and year on year improvement but after losing to Brighton in the 2004 final he was dumped, there's no other word for it, by then rookie Chairman Steve Lansdown.

Many will surely agree that under him City played a fine attacking style, indeed in 2003 when they won the LDV Trophy they massed over 100 goals in all competitions. Perhaps if he had been given the level of financial support in the transfer market enjoyed by Lee Johnson things might have turned out differently?

In this hour long interview Danny talks about not only his time at City but his wider football career and how he feels in selecting his former Sheffield Wednesday teammate, Nigel Pearson, City have got the best man possible to secure their Premier League ambition