Paul McNally breaks silence following City of Liverpool exit as next steps outlined
Paul McNally has spoken for the first time since he was relieved of his duties as City of Liverpool manager.
Paul McNally believes he could have turned around City of Liverpool’s poor start before his Purps dismissal - but reflects on his time fondly after steering the club to ‘monumental’ achievements.
The tactician was relieved of his duties after two years in charge following a 1-0 defeat against Newcastle Town - leaving the club sitting in the relegation zone.
McNally worked wonders during his tenure at City of Liverpool and took the club from being at risk of the drop to playoff finalists, which ultimately ended in defeat to Prescot Cables.
The work that he, and his management team, had done, earned him praise from all quarters - with Andrew Simpson of the Non-League Paper naming him as the Manager of the Season for his heroics.
After a couple of years of enduring difficulty in the Northern Premier League West for the Purps, McNally was installed as Michael Ellison’s successor in September 2022.
In the two years he spent in the hotseat, he led them to their furthest run in the FA Trophy - beating higher-league opposition Buxton to set up a tie against Hartlepool United, and reaching the Liverpool Senior Cup final - losing out to Marine.
The full audio interview is available at the bottom of the article.
His departure split the City of Liverpool fanbase as many expressed their disappointment the decision was untimely after 13 matches. Subsequently, he was replaced by former Prescot Cables manager Kevin Lynch and while McNally has come to terms with the decision, he believes the tide would have turned.
“I’m not going to lie, it would have been tough but I genuinely did feel that we would turn it around,” he told Off The Park.
“We were having a tough time, we got beat on the Saturday against Runcorn Linnets and we got beat by Newcastle Town - two defeats but previously we were five unbeaten, there were three or four draws but we had a win in there.
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“It shows the fine margins, performances weren’t great - I’ll hold my hands up - but I know we were capable of turning it around and the group fully believed that as well.”
He added: “They knew what we wanted, we were still fighting for our cause. It’s ifs, buts and maybes but I do feel we would’ve turned it around, I don’t think we would’ve been relegated, we probably wouldn’t have reached the pinnacle of last year, we would’ve been safe.”
Recent years have been a rollercoaster ride for McNally, ranging from a relentless run dating back to promotion with Skelmersdale United to joining City of Liverpool, battling relegation and subsequently reaching the playoff final, as well as the FA Trophy third round proper.
Despite the disappointment of being sacked over a month ago, he looks back on his time with the Purps with fond memories. He explained: “The last couple of weeks I have looked at it and I’m proud of our achievements.
“Over the last five years, we’ve done well under hard circumstances. When you reflect on it, it’s a proud CV, I’m proud of what I’ve done and it’s not a bad repertoire. Three promotions with three different teams, FA Cup first round (with Skelmersdale United), Senior Cup and playoff finalists.
“Hopefully it’s not the end, we await for our next opportunity, reflect and be proud of what we’ve done.
“The first season was tough, our hands were tied a little bit and we knew that when we were going in. The focus was on keeping them in the league, we did that, the pre-season from there was a list of 20 players that we wanted to sign and our goal that was always the playoffs.
“It was a bit of a crazy target from where we was, we set that target and said playoffs was the minimum - we achieved that. It’s a testament to the players we had, they were fantastic, the cup runs, what we achieved in the league was monumental.
“I know it came to a sad end but very happy memories.”
Following their formidable run to reach the playoff final, winning away at favourites Runcorn Linnets in the semi-final, McNally was rewarded for his efforts by committing his future City of Liverpool - during a time when speculation had tipped him to succeed Billy Paynter at the APEC Taxis Stadium.
His time out of the dugout is approaching two months and in that time, McNally has been taking in action at the likes of his former club among others. The former Skelmersdale United boss has become one of the standout names in the pool of non-league managers whenever pressure rises or there is a vacancy.
However, no approaches have been made for his services yet and although he feels he may wait to return to the hot seat, he is ready and ready to jump back in.