Accrington Stanley chairman Andy Holt has revealed he sacked long-serving manager John Coleman, and assistant Jimmy Bell by WhatsApp message in a statement on the club’s website.
The League Two side parted company with Coleman on the 3rd of March 2024 in a brief and widely criticised statement on the club’s website that was only 43 words long. The backlash which prompted the club to release a second “update” to the statement the following day which thanked the long-serving pair and highlighted some of their achievements.
“Accrington Stanley Managing Director, David Burgess, said: “The Accrington Stanley Board of Directors want to thank John Coleman and Jimmy Bell for everything they have done for Accrington Stanley Football Club.”
“Without John and Jimmy, Accrington Stanley would not be an EFL club.
“From coming here in 1999 and leading Accrington Stanley back into the Football League after 44 years was a dream come true for everyone then associated with the club.
“Their commitment to the club throughout their two managerial stints was unquestionable, and that along with their successes, has made the club what it is today.
“With the probability of making the promotion Play-Offs rapidly diminishing, we decided to make the changes now so we had time, between now and the end of the season, to work on what we feel is needed in the future for the best of Accrington Stanley.
“We understand that some fans may not agree with us, but it is the Board’s job to make decisions to ensure that Accrington Stanley as a football club continues to develop moving forward.
“We wish John and Jimmy all the very best for the future.”
What went wrong according to Andy Holt?
Holt’s statement released this morning clearly labels it as “unedited” and “in his own words” which is reflected in the content. The statement shows emotion and perhaps is the product of days of criticism from fans of the club.
The relegation from League One is the first talking point, with it being suggested that performances were poor and that the recruitment was “dreadful”. It then goes on to suggest that the board were in favour of terminating the contracts then, but their past achievements warranted “a last chance” which was, according to Holt communicated to them.
There are then further accusations of deliberate division being sewn with Andy Bayes’s interview and the use of Radio Lancaster to highlight the fact that they had only been offered 12-month contract extensions rather than the three/four-year deals they had hoped for. It is also suggested that the manager’s performances led to a total of £1.6 million in club losses.
Was it a good statement?
The statement was unusual in the world of football. Whilst some have praised his transparency, some have called into question the public manner in which this fallout has been played. Not all of that can be placed at Andy Holt’s feet, however, with Jimmy and John both willing to use the media as a weapon. Once the public head-butting started earlier in the season, this decision seemed inevitable. A breakdown in relations, and perhaps an owner that was at the end of his tether as he saw his attempts to sell the club fail and incur further losses he must cover.
Whilst the ending of his tenure was a sour one, it shouldn’t be forgotten the wonderful things John Coleman did for Accrington Stanley and I hope in the future that bridges can be built once again.
I don’t think you can judge either Andy or John from this statement, it is a clear clashing of two very strong minded personalities who both perhaps felt comfortable with their feet under the table at the club.
The Accrington Stanley Statement in full:
An update from me… regarding the termination of John Coleman’s and Jimmy Bell’s contracts.
I am now in a position to share some basic detail behind my decision to not renew the contracts.
Why?
A. Last year the recruitment of players was dreadful. Many performances were very poor, injuries were many. We were relegated from League One. During the season Jimmy often complained too many players were being engaged with not enough quality.
It undermined my faith in them.
B. At the end of last season, I had a meeting with John to discuss this current season. Whilst I was in that meeting, Jimmy was ringing another director saying ‘with that team we’re being relegated again’ or words to that effect.
C. The Board’s position was that they should be terminated. Their performance merited it.
D. It was discussed and suggested that they deserved credit for past historic great work at the club, they deserved a last chance.
E. This was communicated to them verbally in a meeting involving me, John, Jimmy, and Dave.
The crux of it was to give them a chance. We’d review around Christmas 2023 and if we looked safe, we would extend their contracts for another season. The extension would be for one season only but could be repeated indefinitely if we got back to our normal performances.
F. Despite this 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.
This was deliberate and in my mind was done for one or more of the following reasons:
- To leverage their long-held support with many fans in order to pressure the club. As show of strength.
- To use this leverage to get new contracts of a longer period than that was on offer. The offer was a 12-month extension if we looked safe, despite Jimmy’s claim we would be relegated, which if it had happened, would have made them unaffordable and threaten our club.
- To announce their availability to the world as managers.
G. The calling me out in Andy Bayes’ interview was GUARANTEED to divide our club. I communicated this to our managers at the time and told them they had ‘killed me’ as owner of the club. A selection of fans would demand I give longer unsustainable contracts, others would say I should have terminated earlier.
This divide has been evident from that day to this. Even after the termination of contracts the fan base is still divided and more so than ever.
They had to retract the statement giving a united platform for owner and manager to sing from the same hymn sheet.
They refused to do so. Despite months passing by with opportunities daily to right this issue, it never came.
When?
It has been said that I got up ‘out of the wrong side of the bed and sacked them’.
This was not true. The last day in February this year was always pencilled in as a back stop date. The reason is that many players are running out of contract, and the manager, whether it be John or Jimmy or another, wouldn’t have had time to set up for next season.
Around 10 days before the final day I spoke at length with Coley, it was still a condition that a statement had to be put out allowing me to rebuild a united front for the club. It NEVER came.
How?
I WhatsApp messaged and texted both John and Jimmy at around 9am telling them of the decision. I also informed them the club would put a statement out soon.
The reason it was put to them in this way is that, had I discussed (again) with them a mixed message could have resulted. Both messages to them and that put out by the club may be used against the club, so it had to be simple, straight forward and seemingly cold.
Finally, MY comment.
I have worked with John and Jimmy and most of the time it was great, and fun.
They performed badly in our relegation season, I didn’t sack them like EVERY OTHER OWNER would have.
They made serious mistakes and despite this I didn’t want it to end. They went public and divided our fan base probably forever, an action that I did NOT deserve, having looked after them extremely well in my time at the club.
I knew without retraction our relationship was over. Despite having months and months to do this, they didn’t.
It was a combination of poor performance and the public disagreements that resulted in the end.
Their performances led to losses last season of £600,000 followed by this season of £1,000,000. Losses that I have a choice, either fund the club or put administrators in.
I chose to fund the losses because I still believe Accrington deserves and desperately need a great club.
But the continued funding of these losses stops at the end of this season.
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 slanging 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?
Now then.
All the above DOES NOT take away from their achievements at the club. I fully respect their record, I understand fans that have been around them for decades, have lost their heroes.
There should be proper recognition of their achievements. Coley’s bar was called Coley’s bar for a reason. It will remain Coley’s bar.
I believe they are good at what they do and deserve decent jobs going forward.
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 manger 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.
That’s what is happening and where I stand.
Good morning, BTW.