Coleman and Bentley

[sandgrown]

JC did definitely not want to leave, but JH dropped him for a Tuesday home match against Halifax.

my daughter and I spoke to him under the main stand that night and he was very upset, but vowed to return one day as manager.

whether his goals have changed by now I don't know, but for me he was a legend on the pitch, and I would love to have him back.

[Christies Child]

Can't understand all this clamour for JC when other than this season Accy have finished below us in the FL. I remember last season when Accy fans wanted him out.

[Posh]

Can't understand all this clamour for JC when other than this season Accy have finished below us in the FL. I remember last season when Accy fans wanted him out.

I think I'm understanding this anti-CC vibe. Poor Neil I do love you but this is utter nonsense.

Coley has improved Accy's league position every year since he's been at the club. Last season I didn't see one post wanting him out and to say that Accy fans wanted him out simply isn't true (maybe some nutter from Oswaldtwistle called Bernard but no one else). Given the extraordinary circumstances under which he's operated and the finances he's got (or not got) it's a miracle they're in League 2 let alone the playoffs. FFS the only reason Accrington Stanley exist is because he's brought in £1.5 million in transfer fees since they got promoted (something you never knew had even happened and have clearly forgotten). With JC and PMG's budget over the last four years we'd have been in League 1 (might be relegated like Daggers but we'd have been there).

The dream for me is John Coleman, Jimmy Bell and Jim Bentley. Coley would get us playing football, find gems and get fans pumped up and get the gates up. Sadly, like many, I wish it but I doubt it.

[Christies Child]

The fact still remains that he's finished below us up until this season.

As for the Accy fans wanting him out, then you are simply wrong. Numerous times last season (2009 / 2010) they questioned his tactics and most certainly wanted him to be replaced.

I'll admit that he's done incredibly well with little resources but as for being our manager, no!

[bigreddog]

Other than the fact that John Coleman is an absolute legend, he's also living breathing proof that you can make a silk purse out of a sows ear. with zero resources he's managed a miracle at Accy, and at times he, his staff and players haven't even been paid. I'm on record as wanting Jim Bentley, as manager or in some capacity but certainly in the set up at the very least, but i have nothing but respect for the job that JC has done.

[MfcChris]

The fact still remains that he's finished below us up until this season!

How stupid; do you do this to get people to have a go at you? I think you are an attention seeker.

Why have Man United finished above Stoke every single year. Is it because they have more resources?

[maccawozzagod]

The fact still remains that he's finished below us up until this season.

As for the Accy fans wanting him out, then you are simply wrong. Numerous times last season (2009 / 2010) they questioned his tactics and most certainly wanted him to be replaced.

I'll admit that he's done incredibly well with little resources but as for being our manager, no!

hells bells CC where on earth do you get your information from?

since Coley has been at the club we have risen from the Unibond 1st (not the Prem) to the brink of League 1. At some early points Coley had money to spend as we were a rich club in comparison to others. The Conference was won by having the right blend of youth and experience, skill and graft - most certainly not by money (14th highest wage bill that season). League has been slow to get into as the gaps between our pitiful turnover, budget, facilities etc have been large even to the 2nd poorest teams in the division.


Coley has had his detractors over the years, and yes fans have questioned his tactics. His most favoured detractions are that

1. he has too many favourites who simply will not be dropped
2. his use of substitutes. He has never been a fan of using substitutes even if the game is crying out for someone to change it
3. his behaviour in general invites a lot of negative publicity from fans of other clubs

Yet for any negative points (and all manager are pretty much guilty of the above at some time or other), he has more positive points.

1. no other manager could have achieved what he has achieved in the time he has been here and with the tools at his disposal
2. he has shown incredible loyalty to the club over the years despite the innumerous opportunities he has had to throw in the towel. 12 years and the longest serving manager in the Football League. 3rd in the entire professional game only to the legends that are Messrs Wenger and Ferguson.
3. He is the club. All clubs need a figurehead, the focal point of everything. We used to have three, Coleman, Eric Whalley and Paul Mullin. The latter two have gone and that leaves only Coleman. His word is law, he gets to do pretty much what he wants and when he wants, providing we can afford it – and he is sensible about what we can afford. He is to Stanley what a father is to a child – except that now that child is all grown up. He has nurtured us, wiped our arses, mopped up every time the club has vomited, educated us, taken us on holidays, but above all else he has brought us up. The club is Coley and Coley is the club.

Some fans will have called for his head in the early days, a few less called for his head in the first two years of the Conference when results were hard to come by (although we finished a creditable 10th both times). Less still might have called for his head in the first couple of years of the FL when relegation battles were the norm. Yet all real fans of the club have always understood that relegation battles were likely with the funding he had available. All real fans understood that every result we battled for was the result of the work that Coley and Bell had put in with a group of players they probably didn’t want but couldn’t afford to improve. The players loved him because they knew that as long as they put the effort in they would be rewarded with their place. Paul Mullin, Peter Cavanagh, Robbie Williams to name but three all played in the Football League and the Unibond. Andy Proctor can be added to the list and might be the captain of a League 1 side next season.

But what makes Coley untouchable, as far as all at the club are concerned, is the way that he quietly carried on when the club fell apart in the summer of 2009. A mass squad exodus, the tax bill and the imminent closure of the club. The fans held vigils, the owner(s) ran around claiming that grass was blue and the sky was green, the media vultures circled. Yet in the midst of the chaos was the calm of John Coleman (not often you’ll read that sentence so savour it). He built a team that could play football. He had less money than previous seasons (around 700k I believe) yet still managed a squad that reached the 3rd round of the FA Cup and outplayed Fulham for 65 minutes. He built a team that went away to QPR and earned a standing ovation from the home fans for outplaying much fancied, nouveau riche Rangers for over an hour on their own turf. He built a team that very nearly stole its way into the play offs until injuries, suspensions and fatigue on a small squad decimated our end of season results. We were only about 6 points off the play offs despite taking only 1 point from the last 30 available.

For that reason alone, completely disregarding the previous 10 years, Coleman has become untouchable at Stanley. HAD anyone called for his head last year they’d have been strung up and lynched.

You sir, need to go and have a very long lie down in a darkened room whilst you learn the errors of your ways.

Unless of course you were just fishing for a bite. Well done, you got one. So in that instance the above post can apply to all those who think that Coleman might defect this summer. As much as we don’t want him to go, I don’t think he wants to go for every single reason above. He will go at some point but I very seriously doubt that it would be a sideways move to Morecambe – regardless of the obvious affection he has for the club

[mrpotatohead]

cracking post maccawozzagod, the fans of accy deserve to keep coley, i wish them good luck.

[MfcChris]

CC is a WUM. Ban him.

[marky No.1]

1. he has too many favourites who simply will not be dropped
2. his use of substitutes. He has never been a fan of using substitutes even if the game is crying out for someone to change it
3. his behaviour in general invites a lot of negative publicity from fans of other clubs

Where have we heard all that before?



"You sir, need to go and have a very long lie down in a darkened room whilst you learn the errors of your ways."

We have tried that I can assure you, but he keeps on pulling the light switch!

[Castaway]

The dream for me is John Coleman, Jimmy Bell and Jim Bentley. Coley would get us playing football, find gems and get fans pumped up and get the gates up. Sadly, like many, I wish it but I doubt it.

Dream shared. How many games would Capaldi get under that management team?

"You sir, need to go and have a very long lie down in a darkened room whilst you learn the errors of your ways."

We have tried that I can assure you, but he keeps on pulling the light switch!

[Christies Child]

1. he has too many favourites who simply will not be dropped
2. his use of substitutes. He has never been a fan of using substitutes even if the game is crying out for someone to change it
3. his behaviour in general invites a lot of negative publicity from fans of other clubs

Where have we heard all that before?



"You sir, need to go and have a very long lie down in a darkened room whilst you learn the errors of your ways."

We have tried that I can assure you, but he keeps on pulling the light switch![/quote]

Don't get too upset, but we're going on a long holday very soon.

But like the bad penny I'll be back....BUT with a completely new attitude....promise!

Especially if Jimbo gets the job.....

[Wild Bill]

The dream for me is John Coleman, Jimmy Bell and Jim Bentley. Coley would get us playing football, find gems and get fans pumped up and get the gates up. Sadly, like many, I wish it but I doubt it.

Dream shared. How many games would Capaldi get under that management team?

What do you know about Tony Capaldi Tom? You can't have seen his amazing long throws more than once? Rumours have it he may be our next manager, signing the best 'pub players' in the country!

How's Oz?

[Seasider9601]

He could even be scouring the Las Vegas area right now as we speak for unearthed talent !!