Gary Brabin lets fly after his sacking at Tranmere...
Boss slams Rovers axe
GARY BRABIN has slammed Tranmere chairman Mark Palios for sacking him just two weeks after he was named as the National League’s manager of the month.
The 45-year-old guided Rovers to a record-breaking start to the season as they won six of their opening seven games.
But the axe was wielded after a 1-0 defeat to Sutton in mid-September extended a poor run to four without a victory.
It left the club four points from top spot, but patience had worn thin at Prenton Park and Palios decided it was time for a change – Micky Mellon has since taken the reins.
Agreement
“It was a massive surprise to me,” said Brabin. “The agreement was two years to get the club back into the Football League, and as far as I’m concerned, we were well on course for that.
“As it stands, I’m still currently manager of the month after the best start in the club’s history, and I’m out of a job!
“We were on the coach coming back and I was told to expect a call off the chairman in the morning, so you always expect the worst. I was disappointed, but that’s football.”
What frustrated Brabin most was Tranmere’s lack of movement in the transfer market.
Rovers brought in just four players this summer with one of them, Jeff Hughes, spending the back end of last season on loan at Prenton Park from Cambridge United. Brabin claims the money was there to make new signings, but his requests to strengthen the squad fell on deaf ears. “It wasn’t as easy as just going out to sign a player,” he continued, “and that was nothing to do with finances. “We were frustrated. We had a good team, but we had no strength in depth. “It was common knowledge that we needed to improve the squad. “The actual team were good enough, which they proved. But outside that, I felt we needed to recruit. “We had players playing [at Sutton] who really shouldn’t have played. “We lost two in the first 20 minutes, and that one game highlighted that it was always going to be hard after that.”
Expectations
Brabin came in at a time when the club had just suffered back-to-back relegations.
Yet expectations were arguably never higher though, as fans yearned for a return to the Football League.
The former Southport boss insists he would have achieved that, if given the chance.
“I believe whoever gets that job is in a fantastic position,” he added. “I thought we were good enough to get promoted this season. I’ve certainly left the club in a better state than I found it.
“We knew where we were going and I felt like we were heading in the right direction.”