found this interview with Coley, particularly like the second paragraph! i seem to remember him waving one here
Bucking trends at relegation-threatened Rochdale will be crucial if new manager John Coleman is to successfully steer the Spotland club away from League One’s drop zone. So Dale fans will have been cheered to see the new boss start as he means to go on yesterday when he was unveiled to the press corps.
Asked to brandish a club scarf for the obligatory ‘new manager’ photographs, Coleman amiably refused.
“You have to earn the right to wave the club’s colours about like that,” he declared.
After 13 years sporting Accrington red, it was enough that Coleman should don his new blue Rochdale tracksuit. The scarf was a prop too far for the 49-year-old on his first day in the job, though his resistance will undoubtedly be tested should he plot a path to safety in Dale’s remaining 19 fixtures. And, having waited so long to manage at this level, Coleman and assistant boss Jimmy Bell will not give up League One status without a fight.
“Every game we play now is going to be vital and I’m not scared of talking about relegation – that’s what is on everybody’s mind and there is no point hiding from the fact and banning the word,” said Coleman. “We are in a scrap and we’ve got to be prepared to roll our sleeves up and have a go.”
Despite his long association with Accrington, the challenge of keeping Dale in the third tier, and of testing himself at the highest level of management, proved too much to resist when Spotland chairman Chris Dunphy came calling.
“It’s a big wrench when you’ve been at a place for such a long time and it wasn’t a decision I took lightly. “Obviously, we know a lot about Rochdale from playing against them over the years, we’ve seen the success they’ve had and how well the club is run and we’ve spoken to people in the game and done our homework, as I’m sure the chairman has done his homework on us”
Oppertunity.
“Speaking to one of the recently departed managers, Steve Eyre, he had nothing but good things to say about the club, so you know you are going into a place where you will be given an opportunity. So as much as it was a wrench to leave Accrington, we had to let our heads rule our hearts and go with what we think is best at this time in our careers.”
Coleman’s number two, Bell, insisted any long-term planning would be put on hold until League One status was preserved.
“Our main aim is to keep the club up,” he said. “We want to manage as high as we can and that’s why we have come here. “It’s a big test for us. We don’t want to be going back to League Two, so we’ll give 100 per cent to keep this club where it is and reassess in the summer.”
P.S. seem to recall the Great "Bobby Charlton" having a pop at managing. So being a top player says nowt.
lol
