A manager that is serving his second spell with the club, the former England National Game XI (England C) player John Coleman has seen a lot at Wham Stadium, and he’s steered the club through good and not so good.
The veteran manager has seen it all and been through it all for the club. With Coleman employing a number of different formations, it appears the manager prefers a 5-3-2 setup, though he used a 3-5-2 arrangement in the team’s last match at home to Cambridge United.
Coleman previously served as manager of Accrington Stanley from 1999-2012, only to return to the club in 2014. Sprinkled in-between were managerial positions at Rochdale, Southport and Sligo Rovers. In all, the seasoned veteran manager has registered more than 385 wins for Stanley. Rovers are yet to beat John Coleman’s Stanley.
Manager John Coleman said...
On injuries in the squad:
“We’ll have to have a look again with John O’Sullivan today. There’s just a few bumps and bruises. The main concern is the sickness. We’ve had quite a few players being ill with a bug that’s swept through the club, but not COVID. It’s still derailed us a bit, and I think that’s shown in the last 20 minutes of the game from Saturday.”
On the possibility of signing another centre-half:
“I was looking at players last night at 1:30 a.m., and then began making some phone calls this morning around 6:30 a.m., and the texts. You just have to wait for it to happen. But what you don’t want to happen is push the button on the wrong one. You have to wait for your target.
“In regards to the centre-half, I probably have about six on the go now. I’m waiting for the call back on one. I might not have one in for [Rovers], but I should have one in for Saturday’s game.”
On the expectations against Rovers:
“We know what we’re going to get. They’re a very, very attacking team; commit a lot of men forward. They’re quite similar to Wigan Athletic when they were so successful in League One – pushing the fullbacks quite high and attacking down the flanks.
“It’ll be a challenge for us, but I know we’ve got, potentially, the two best flankers in the league. No one will like to play against them. If we get them more fit and flare, they’ll be a handful for anyone.”
On the amount of variety of play in League One:
“This is an unforgiving league. There’s so many top teams in it.
“We were playing at home [over the weekend] and the fans were magnificent. We’ve got to hope they’re still enthused and that the novelty doesn’t wear off. It can quickly happen. You haven’t seen something for ages, then all of a sudden you get sick of it. I’m a bit like that with scallops. I don't have them for ages, and then I find myself having them three times a week. So, you just have to be careful that the novelty doesn’t wear off. The only way you keep that novelty from wearing off is by winning games and being exciting.”
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