Bully out as Stafford Rangers boss
Wolves legend Steve Bull's first managerial outing has ended in controversy when he became the latest victim of Stafford Rangers financial crisis.
Wolves legend Steve Bull's first managerial outing has ended in controversy when he became the latest victim of Stafford Rangers financial crisis.
Bull, arriving to take the team's regular Thursday night training session, was asked to leave by chairman Jon Downing, because the cash-strapped club could no longer afford to pay him.
A shocked Bull was visibly upset by this latest turn of events at Marston Road, where Rangers are grappling with a crisis threatening the club's existence after 130 years of football.
Bull joined the remnants of a playing squad decimated by a string of departures forced on the club by cost-cutting for a farewell drink, before leaving for the last time.
The 43-year-old Bull is at home considering his next move, in an increasingly bitter dispute between the board and playing personnel, while his assistant Chris Brindley takes over the reins.
The Wolves record scorer, with 306 goals in 13 years, is also planning a reply to the club's statement on this latest development, which was being drawn up this morning.
But a close friend of the Molineux legend said: "Steve is very upset at what has happened and is just taking time out to think about things and assess what he does next.
"Even with everything that has been going on, it was a big shock to him."
Stafford's decision to force out the manager to whom so much hope had been attached is the most dramatic signal so far of the crisis enveloping the Blue Square North league club.
He was appointed 10 months ago with Rangers in desperate relegation trouble from the Blue Square Premier, a plight Bull was unable to prevent in his first managerial posting since hanging up his boots in 2001.
But relegation hit crowds, while early elimination from all cup competitions deepening the growing financial gloom.
Players were told they must accept pay cuts and with sponsorship money drying up as well, Bull found himself trying to hold together a team amid a growing crisis.
Midfielder Carl Palmer and David MacPherson became the latest players to quit the club this week but Bull's exit is the one that will grab the headlines.
