Failure to deliver success sees Finnerty exit Steelers

The 32-year-old Canadian paid the price for a second trophyless season when he was sacked by owner Tony Smith on Wednesday - less than 24 hours after the last hope of any silverware disappeared in a Challenge Cup final loss to arch-rivals Nottingham Panthers.

Finnerty enjoyed a triumphant spell as a player with Steelers between 2006-09, winning a league championship and two play-off titles.

But he was unable to replicate that success in a coaching capacity, finishing runners-up in the league while he operated as a rookie player-coach last season, before a third-place finish this time around.

A second successive failure to reach the final four play-off weekend in Nottingham – following a quarter-final defeat to Coventry Blaze last weekend – prompted calls from some fans for Finnerty to go. Smith obliged at around lunchtime on Wednesday.

“It’s with a sad heart that we have taken this decision,” said Smith. “We are actively looking for an experienced head coach to come in and run the hockey side of this business.”

Finnerty, who returned to the club as player-coach after being appointed by former owner Paul Ragan to replace Ben Simon in 2011, will be sad to leave a club he has taken to his heart ever since first joining as a player under Dave Matsos midway through the 2006-07 season.

He admitted he expected bad news after the play-off quarter-final defeat to Coventry. He was forced to watch his team’s last game in the Challenge Cup final second leg at Nottingham from the sidelines after being handed a match penalty for arguing with referee Michael Hicks at the end of the Coventry loss.

“To be honest, I knew it was on the cards after the Coventry loss - this is an organisation that demands success,” he said.

“But I genuinely feel the club is in a better position than when I came in and that it is going in the right direction. You always want to have success, not only for yourself but everybody who spends their hard-earned cash watching this team.”

Finnerty genuinely believes he was moulding a championship-winning team and felt a third season at the helm would have brought success for the Steelers.

The arrival of players such as forwards Steven Goertzen and, latterly, Simon Ferguson, together with existing imports such as Jeff Legue and Rod Sarich formed a core group of guys Finnerty felt were capable of delivering silverware.

“If they keep the core group, which you seriously have to do going forward, these guys will have success in the near future,” said Finnerty, who will now head back to Canada to explore a number of job opportunities there.

“You can’t be replacing six or seven imports every year and expect to win - it just can’t work like that.

“The club now has the financial means to compete at the level where the fans expect them to be competing.

“I kind of walked into a no-win situation when Paul Ragan asked me to be coach two years ago. But I have learned such a lot. It’s a lot of hard work and a huge learning curve. But I don’t regret any of the moves I’ve made and I really feel this club is stronger than two years ago.

“It was a small budget for that first season and I knew it was going to be tough. In this league, if you don’t have the money, you can’t seriously compete for the trophies - ask any coach.

“It was frustrating for that season to be deemed a failure because we also had injuries to key players at various times, such as Rod Sarich, Ashley Tait and Jonathan Phillips.

“But we were able to bring a in a lot of new imports this season and there is now a core group of guys at the club now capable of winning things, similar to when we won the double under Dave Matsos. I hope that people realise that.”

As for Smith, he is already working on a shortlist of possible candidates to replace Finnerty, who he clearly had a lot of time for but, ultimately, felt him unable to deliver the club a first trophy since 2011.

It’s understood Coventry’s Paul Thompson would have been a target had he not already agreed a move to Sweden after 18 years with the West Midlands club. Former player Rob Wilson - a favourite for the job among some fans - is happy coaching in Italy.

Given Smith’s desire to bring in someone with more experience than Finnerty had when he came into the job, it would not be a surprise if Steelers were to follow the route taken by Elite League rivals Braehead Clan midway through last season when they appointed Paul Gardner, a man with vast experience as a head coach in the AHL as well as a number of years as an assistant to Barry Trotz at the Nashville Predators in the NHL.

Gardner was able to steer Braehead to the inaugural Gardiner Conference title, before they went out to Cardiff Devils in the play-off quarter-finals.

Smith added: “Everyone who works alongside Ryan knows the effort he has put into trying to bring success back to this organisation and we are both thankful and grateful to him for that. We wish him well.”

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Twitter: @PHarrisonYP