Birmingham City's ex-Charlton Athletic and Nottingham Forest star reveals why Portsmouth coach was key factor behind AFC Wimbledon boss' sacking

Pompey coach Simon Bassey’s AFC Wimbledon exit was the key reason behind coach Mark Robinson’s failure with the Londoners.
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That’s the view of Birmingham striker Lyle Taylor, who spent three successful years with the Dons after being unearthed by the man who arrived at Fratton Park last summer.

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The club had previously stated they were to blame for failing to adequately support the 57-year-old in building a strong squad, with Mark Bowen named as his replacement until the end of the season yesterday.

Bassey was key to player recruitment at the club where his association spanned eight years at Wimbledon as a youngster, before returning to AFC Wimbledon at the end of his playing days and then joining the backroom staff after his premature retirement.

He left his role at Plough Lane in 2019 and would later have a brief spell in charge of Barnet before linking up with the Cowley brothers last summer.

Birmingham City striker Lyle Taylor worked under the 46-year-old at the Wombles and has questioned recruitment at the club since Bassey departed.

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Speaking to the BBC’s London Sport Show, he said; ‘The recruitment was done by Simon Bassey and I’m not too sure Simon Bassey ever got enough credit for what he managed to produce alongside Neal Ardley and Neil Cox.

Lyle Taylor believes AFC Wimbledon's failure to replace Pompey coach Simon Bassey was they key reason why Mark Robinson was sacked as Wombles boss.Lyle Taylor believes AFC Wimbledon's failure to replace Pompey coach Simon Bassey was they key reason why Mark Robinson was sacked as Wombles boss.
Lyle Taylor believes AFC Wimbledon's failure to replace Pompey coach Simon Bassey was they key reason why Mark Robinson was sacked as Wombles boss.

‘If you lose someone who has been as influential and as important in bringing players in as Simon Bassey was, then you don’t really have much in the way of a starting system to go and find players like myself, like Tom Elliott and like Jake Reeves; who were arguable capable of playing at a higher level but hadn’t got those chances for one reason or another.

‘If I’m being completely honest, Bass played a major role in every single player that signed.

‘Bass told me about the journey he’d made to watch me play, and I suppose the questions he’d asked people that had liked me and who hadn’t liked me.

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‘There was a lot that went into simply scouting me as a player. Bass did that with tens of players through the leagues as Wimbledon rose. That’s just the players signed – how about the players that weren’t signed?

‘If you take that cog out of the machine it’s a massive, massive cog to replace.’

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