Thomas takes responsibility for 'embarrassing' second half of season

The wheels came off Town’s campaign long ago, sliding from mid-table at Christmas to the very bottom of League One by April after a spectacularly bad run of one win in 25 games. Relegation was confirmed with four games of the season still to go, and a forgettable campaign will be put out of its misery when Cobblers host Plymouth on Saturday.

"It’s been awful,” admitted Thomas. “There’s no hiding from that. It’s been disappointing and embarrassing and the whole club feels it – the players, the staff, especially the fans. We as a board definitely feel it because it’s been shocking.

"I’ve never seen a drop off like this in however many years of doing this. I think it’s taken everyone by surprise considering where we were at Christmas but we have to take it on the chin and we have to get on with it. The responsibility lies with me as chairman and I accept that responsibility and we have to improve.”

Thomas remains positive about the club’s future though. “Absolutely, with or without investment,” he added. “We have had a terrible 2026 and we have to turn it around. You have to put the tin hat on in these periods, and this is definitely the worst I’ve seen, but we’re strong characters. We’re not in football because we’re going to back down and hide.

"You can’t always say what you want to say because of confidentially and agreements that have been made and we have to accept a lot more criticism, not just because of the run but also because of the vacuum of information.

"Fans are always desperate for information and some people take it too far. I’m not worried about myself, it’s part of being a chairman and I take full responsibility, I have broad shoulders, but some of the stuff that’s been directed towards the staff is disappointing.”

On his message for the fans, Thomas added: “The first thing we say is sorry and then we say thank you. I’ve spoken to a lot of fans personally and the support has been unbelievable. That’s what was so disappointing about the Cardiff result because we had 800 to 1,000 fans there and we had 700 pink shirts sold. It was a great idea and the atmosphere was fantastic so to come away with that result was so disappointing.”