Deal us in, Reds
ACCRINGTON Stanley manager John Coleman says it was an easy decision to sign a new contract that keeps him and assistant boss Jimmy Bell at the club until 2022.
Coleman and Bell returned to Stanley in 2014 after first managing the club from 1999 to 2012.
They helped master- mind Accrington’s promotion to League One earlier this year, and Coleman is excited about the future at the Wham Stadium after putting pen to paper on the new contract.
“It wasn’t a difficult decision, we have been speaking about it for the last six months. Myself and Andy Holt are on the same page, we both want what’s best for the club,” he told the club’s official website. “When we left the first time I was quoted as saying ‘I felt like Ken Barlow’, I would never have the chance to star in a Hollywood blockbuster.
“But we have managed to go to the next level with Accrington Stanley and we always believed we could do it. There has never been a better time to be at this club than right now.
“It is the fruits of the labours of a lot of different people over the years who have enabled us to be in this situation. People who kept us afloat when things were really bad.
“Andy Holt has moved the club forward as regards structure, he has made great strides forward and prioritised and rightly so.
“He has improved the stadium for the fans and the facilities, it’s a big improvement and a new training ground would be the cherry on the top.
“Once we get our training ground, we can finally compete with other teams on a level playing field.
“It’s something I have craved since 1999 and it’s been a long time coming.
“Me and Andy get on, we don’t talk as chairman and manager but as friends.
“I think we are the envy of other clubs that our chairman is so transparent and he garners the opinions of fans before he makes a decision. We have a good relationship, one a lot of managers would like.
“Me and Jimmy Bell had different experiences and we learnt from it. We managed Rochdale, Southport and Sligo and they were different environments.
“We came back wiser and older and I came back a better manager and Jimmy a better coach. We now focus on the controllables and not things which frustrate us which we can’t do anything about.
“It is a different time now, the future isn’t insecure, we aren’t living hand-to-mouth and I am not putting out fires every day. There is no ceiling on our ambitions. Who knows there may be more fairy tales for Accrington Stanley?”