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Notts County sack their manager with immediate effect

Notts County sack their manager Neal Ardley with immediate effect following their 2-2 draw with Yeovil Town on Tuesday night.

They have parted company with their first-team manager as well as their assistant manager Greg Abbott, leaving the club 6th in the National League table, but some way off the leaders.

Ardley, who took charge in November 2018, but has now departed from his role on Wednesday afternoon following an amicable meeting with the owners, Chris and Alex Reedtz, who have issued the following statement:

“We wish to place on record the huge respect we have for Neal both as a manager and a man.

“He stuck by this club through some of its darkest hours and has played a leading role in stabilising us following a devastating relegation, helping to maintain a close connection between the players, staff and supporters in the most trying of circumstances.

“We will never forget the job he did in guiding us to last season’s play-off final at Wembley and some of the excellent performances he has extracted from the team during our time at the helm.

“It has also been pleasing to see an upturn in recent results, including another spirited fightback last night, and we understand, therefore, that this announcement may come as a surprise to our supporters, who we know share our view that Neal is an excellent ambassador for the club.

“We do not, however, apply short-term thinking to decisions of this magnitude. We consider many factors which far outweigh our results in the last few matches and these deliberations have ultimately led us to conclude that we can be better, and that a change is needed to take us to the next level.

“Neal has always said that when the time comes for him to depart Meadow Lane, he will leave having helped to create a far better footballing environment than he inherited. He has undoubtedly achieved that and we will forever be grateful to him for his efforts in rebuilding a platform for the club to go on and achieve success.

“We would also like to express our gratitude to Greg, who has been a terrific support to Neal and a valuable member of our backroom team since his arrival last year. He and Neal depart with our very best wishes.”

We are not inviting applications for the manager’s position. A further update will be provided to supporters in the near future.

Fans reacted as Notts County sack their manager with immediate effect…

@grezza2120: ‘Not inviting applications’ a deal has been done .

@bigdaz_rigley: Yeeeees finally

@carpetncfc: Absolutely disgraceful notts! Bang out of order

@bramley_roger: The haters won.

@stevierobatkins: Writing has been on the wall for a long time but I’m still shocked

@ITWASCOMINGHOME: We never learn do we? Who possibly are we going to get who will be any better?

@JeanW218: I am really shocked and saddened by the news

@MelissaEd1: Gutted and genuinely saddened by this news. I’d of given him to the end of the season

@sambrodbeck : Urgh, bad move

@ParnhaS: Should have been kept till end of season at least.

@ellis_platten: Get. Me. In. ASAP.

@LincolnYoungg: Thanks for what you did Neil, but onwards and upwards now

@CurtisLarge2: Decent manager and a good bloke, the best in years. Hope we don’t live to regret this.

@TLPepper92: Very surprised. Not overly impressed.

@CountyRoadPie: Sad to see Ardley go, but hey, that’s football. Very excited to see what the brothers have got lined up…….”not inviting applications”????, COYP

@NCFC_taylor: seems pointless to me shouldve given the season let his contract expire and go from there

@Tom_Crampton: No shock at all. Been coming for a while. Tough situation for any manager but with some of the players at his disposal, overall results should have been better. Never nice to see anyone out of a job, especially a decent bloke, but understandable decision from the brothers #coyp

@Neil_Kirby1972: Where’s the dislike button? Massive thanks to Neal for sticking with us through all this shit. I really hope the board have someone in mind, who has the same long term aims

@kencar66: I might be in the minority but I think he deserved longer. He could have walked away in the summer of 2019 but he didn’t. I will always be grateful to him for that. This has left a bad taste, why anyone would be a manager is beyond me.

@NottsCountyF1: Dissapointing news, seemed a lovely and genuine guy but results weren’t going the right way. Wish him the best of luck in the future.

@mrcuthers: Wow…. genuinely shocked by that one. I know there was criticism around, and I get we were in a challenging patch… but didn’t think this was on the cards at all. I wholeheartedly wish Neil all the very best in the future. The way NA led the club through lockdown was superb.

@magpie1862: To be honest a nice guy but I believe the players again let him down. Like most clubs it’s always the players who get the manger sacked. Them in the dressing room should take a long hard look at themselves. They’ve let Neil down and the club.

@badgerstuta: Didn’t see that coming. I know we’ve been going through a tough patch but…

@AndyWhibberley: Bad call at such a crucial stage of the season. I think Ardley deserved a chance to see the season out. My guess is most fans will be underwhelmed by whoever his replacement is, especially given some of the fantasy names being thrown around. European unknown possibly?

@jonnybwana: Holy shit – correct decision though. Nice bloke but performances had spiralled despite ludicrously strong backing. The squad is better than half in L2. The owners aren’t stupid.

@paul_lomas: Fantastic news. I wish him well but so glad he’s finally gone.

@KieranMay93: All the best to neal stabalised us last season and over achieved but ultimately performances and results need to improve for us to achieve our main goal which is to go up

@Gemmiller7: Bit of a risk IMO it could go either way. Finger crossed it pays off

@AndrewJames0511: Some massive games coming up – Wrexham, Hartlepool etc and more confidence is needed that we can win those, rather than fight back for a draw. That said, Neal deserves thanks for restoring pride in our club after the ravaging we suffered at the hands of the flashing meglomaniac.

@gljukesbox: Absolutely gutted. Top bloke and I’m convinced he’d have turned it round. Here we go again!

@CountyRoadPie: I’m guessing playing Enzio at wing back was the straw that broke the camels back

@salbre81: As Neal isn’t on social media is there a way we can send him a message of thanks ?

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