Notts County say they sacked John Sheridan over ref rant

Jan 24, 2017

Notts County say former manager John Sheridan was sacked for gross misconduct over ‘apalling’ language he is said to have used towards a referee.

The club released a statement on Tuesday following reports an FA assessment alleged he unleashed an expletive-laden rant during the 2-0 loss at Wycome Wanderers in December.

Chairman Alan Hardy said: “I wish to make it clear that this sort of behaviour by any employee of this club will not be tolerated.

“It was our decision to terminate the contract based on what I read in the referee’s report regarding the incident. This is a family-friendly club which aims to be a pillar of the local community.

“Comments of the type made by Mr Sheridan were utterly appalling and wholly unacceptable, completely undermining the community spirit and focus we are striving to develop here.

“In light of the recent disclosure of the referee’s report, I thought it appropriate to communicate the exact reasons behind the course of action we took.”

Sheridan, now in charge at Oldham Athletic in League One, has apologised for the incident.

“The language was just not right and it’s something I don’t agree with whatsoever,” he said.

“I was very heated up. I don’t know how it has come out now, but I have served my punishment and of course, I regret doing it,” he told the Oldham Evening Chronicle.

“There were three massive decisions on the day. I was managing a team near the bottom of the league where we were fighting for our lives and I believed three decisions that were made were totally wrong.”