Accrington Stanley chairman Andy Holt has issued a lengthy statement on the sacking of club legends John Coleman and Jimmy Bell, revealing the pair were dismissed by WhatsApp message amid an accusation that they were looking to divide the club.
Stanley sacked long-serving manager Coleman along with his assistant Jimmy Bell on Sunday, following the 4-0 defeat by Wrexham, with the club sitting 16th in the League Two table.
The pair’s contracts were due to expire at the end of the campaign, but Holt has explained his decision to end their tenure early. This was Coleman and Bell’s second spell at the club, which began in 2014, two years after an initial 13-year stint that saw the reformed club climb out of the non-league.
Holt's detailed statement cited bad recruitment and poor performances for the decision to part ways with the duo, insisting that the pair’s previous work at the club meant they were given every chance to turn fortunes around.
But the Stanley chairman cites a Radio Lancashire interview that Bell gave as another key reason in his decision.
“Jimmy went on Radio Lancashire telling the world how it was ‘their club, they built it and that they wanted three or four-year contracts,” Holt's wrote. He believes that this was done to leverage the pair's support with fans to pressure the club into handing them longer deals and to also ‘announce their availability to the world as managers’.
Holt added: “The calling me out in Andy Bayes’ interview was GUARANTEED to divide our club”.
Elsewhere in the 1,105-word statement, Holt details that he has personally funded losses of £1.6m over the past two seasons in a move that has staved off administrators.
“But the continued funding of these losses stops at the end of this season,” he warns. “I lost confidence in them after nearly two full seasons of poor performances.
“I lost faith in them because they seemed to lose the fire in their belly’s. I lost trust in them because they divided our fan base, when they knew full well I was doing my upmost to work through the problems.
“I am off Twitter for now because I knew how a good number of fans would feel. I’m not getting into a slagging match.
“For me to continue to work with the club I have to be happy. Why would I put money into a club to be unhappy?”
After recognising Coleman and Bell’s achievements at the club, Holt returns to the issue of the club’s funding.
“I passionately believe I have to take the club down another stable, long-term path, my job is to create a club that lasts long after my time or that of any manager or player.
“I am still doing my best. I knew this was coming. I offered the club for sale without receiving a single bid.
“I’m trapped between funding the club or putting it into administration.
“I chose to continue funding it ONLY if it can be put on a stable path, an outcome I know is achievable.”
Following last season’s relegation from League One, Stanley sit 16th in the fourth tier, with a 19-point buffer to the relegation zone. The club have appointed coach John Doolan as interim manager.
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