Tuesday 24 January 2017 12:31, UK
Notts County's chairman Alan Hardy has revealed that he sacked John Sheridan because of his verbal abuse of a referee - and not the Magpies' poor form.
Sheridan was dismissed as boss on January 3 following a club-record ninth consecutive defeat in League Two.
The club made no reference to why Sheridan had been sacked at the time.
But Hardy has confirmed that it was Sheridan's abusive language towards the referee following the 2-0 defeat to Wycombe in December rather than the club's poor form which led to the manager's departure.
Sheridan received a five-match ban for the abuse, and he apologised for his behaviour - but the incident cost him his job.
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."
