Accrington Stanley fans SLAM ‘disgraceful’ and ‘graceless’ 43-word statement announcing the sacking of boss John Coleman after 25 years of service – as the League Two club’s …
Andy Holt #AndyHolt
Football fans have hit out at Accrington Stanley after they sacked long-serving manager John Coleman.
Coleman and his long-term assistant Jimmy Bell were relieved of their duties on Sunday morning following Stanley’s 4-0 defeat by Wrexham which left them 16th in League Two, eight points adrift of the play-offs.
The decision brings to an end almost 25 years of service to the club from Coleman, with the 61-year-old originally taking them from the Northern Premier League to the EFL between 1999 and 2012.
Coleman left for Rochdale before returning to Accrington in September 2014 and he has since led them to League One before they were relegated last season. In total, Coleman won 436 of his 1098 games in charge and was the second longest-serving manager in English football behind Harrogate Town’s Simon Weaver.
However, when announcing his departure, Accrington shared a statement that was just 43 words long.
Fans have hit out at Accrington Stanley after they sacked long-serving manager John Coleman
Coleman (left) and his assistant Jimmy Bell (centre – pictured in 2015) were relieved of their duties by the League Two club after Accrington’s 4-0 defeat by Wrexham on Saturday
However, when announcing their exits the club published a statement that was 43 words long
It said: ‘Accrington Stanley can today confirm that John Coleman and Jimmy Bell have been informed that their contracts are terminated with immediate effect.
‘Everyone at the club thanks them for their long-standing service and we wish them all the very best for the future.’
This was seen as extremely unprofessional and disrespectful from Accrington and several supporters were quick to slam the club for the brief announcement.
One said: ‘A truly graceless statement. Over 2 decades at the club, John Coleman has the respect of many in the game and deserved better than this shoddy paragraph.’
Another added: ‘Joke of a statement. WOW,’ with a further furious fan saying: ‘Absolutely disgraceful statement.’
Other supporters piled in as one said: ‘A real shame. Poor way to treat two absolute legends. What they did for Stanley was unbelievable. Fear for the future now.’
More fans couldn’t quite get over the seemingly heartless statement as one said: ‘From the outside that’s horrendous wording for such a club legend. Media team has had a nightmare there.’
Another furious supporter chimed in and added: ‘As Paul Cook (Chesterfield manager) said recently, John Coleman doesn’t get anywhere near enough credit for the job he’s done at Accrington, this statement proves it.’
To add to the furore, Accrington owner Andy Holt, who is usually extremely vocal on social media, deleted his X account shortly after the announcement.
Just earlier this week in the build-up to the Wrexham clash, Coleman admitted he still felt ‘blessed’ to be Accrington manager.
Accrington fans were quick to hit out at the club for the ‘graceless’ and ‘disgraceful’ statement
He had told BBC Radio Lancashire: ‘I still feel blessed to be doing a job I love, a job I dreamed about all my life.
‘I wasn’t good enough to be a professional footballer, but the next best thing was to become a professional football manager. I don’t get blase about it. The novelty has not worn off.
‘We’ve been full-time now for 20-odd years and that novelty won’t wear off because it’s something I thoroughly enjoy.
‘We’ve proved over the last 12, 15 years that we’re no longer little Accrington. We may be in terms of monetary value and what we can pay, but we live within our means and we’re rich in spirit.’
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