Heys looks forward to Cook reign at Stanley
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Having departed the League of Ireland for Accrington Stanley, Paul Cook will be known as one of the best ever managers to have been in charge of Sligo Rovers.
During his time at the Bit o’Red, Cook brought his team to three FAI Cup finals in a row, winning two along with a League Cup trophy. Cook was a Stanley player during his playing career and brought several players from the League Two side with him to Rovers.
Former Stanley player Leam Richardson took the reins after John Coleman departed for Rochdale and was the bookies favourite for the job for a short spell. Speaking to extratime.ie, Chief Executive of Accrington Stanley, Rob Heys said that more time would have been taken to appoint a manager if it wasn’t for the fast approaching 2012 League of Ireland season.
“Leam (Richardson) did a great job as caretaker manager, and we would probably have taken a little longer in making an appointment had we not had the additional constraints of being very interested in Paul with the League of Ireland about to start. Leam is still a very important part of our management team, taking on the role of Paul’s assistant.”
Paul Cook’s predecessor, John Coleman, was the third longest serving current manager in the English football league, after Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. It’s no secret that he is well thought of at the Crown Ground and Cook has big boots to fill. Stanley earned themselves a spot in the play-off semi-finals last season but were knocked out by Stevenage.
Heys feels that Cook and Richardson have what it takes to guide the Lancashire side further than Coleman and Jimmy Bell.
“We have appointed Paul and Leam as we believe they are the men to build on the success that John Coleman and Jimmy Bell brought to Accrington Stanley over the last decade or so. Short term it would be great to make the playoffs this season, but Paul and Leam’s job is bigger than that. We want them to continue to develop and take our club forward, and write the next chapter in our great history.”
