ACCRINGTON STANLEY chairman Andy Holt has released a 1,105 word statement defending his decision to sack long-serving manage John Coleman via WhatsApp.
Fans were outraged at the manner of the decision, despite Accrington’s performances this season having them sitting 16th in League Two.
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Their poor performance this season follows relegation from League One last time out, but Accrington supporters have generally remained fiercely loyal to Coleman and his assistant Jimmy Bell.
The manager served as Accrington manager for 12-and-a-half years between 1999 and 2012.
Following spells at Rochdale, Southport and Sligo he then rejoined Accrington in September 2014 and was sacked on Monday.
Despite Coleman’s two long-term stints he was told he had lost his job by WhatsApp and his departure was announced with a short 43-word statement which fans labelled “disgraceful”.
Outraged fans attacked the chairman’s brutal decision online which led to Holt deleting his X account.
He has now circumvented that self-imposed exile by taking to the club’s website to release a statement.
The remarkable outburst was titled: “STATEMENT: Chairman, Andy Holt, in His Own Words and Unedited.”
Among a littany of complaints about Coleman and Bell, he defended his chance to sack them by WhatsApp by saying: “Both messages to them and that put out by the club may be used against the club, so it had to be simple, straightforward and seemingly cold.
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“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 fanbase 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 £1m. 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 needs a great club. But the continued funding of these losses stops at the end of this season.”