Southend helped see off Ian Sampson by holding them to a 1-1 draw Saturday
League Two rivals Northampton Town have sacked manager Ian Sampson after Tuesday night's 3-2 home defeat to Burton Albion which left them in 16th position, nine points off the play-off pace.
The Cobblers would have expected to be promotion challangers this season, but equalling a club record of six straight draws at Roots Hall on Saturday was never going to help.
And our very own left-back Peter Gilbert must have known something about Sampson's style, he certainly came over as a touch arrogant, by buggering off to become a Shrimper after being expected to sign a new contract at Sixfields back in the summer when Luggy came a calling.
Anyway, they played like a bunch of thugs last weekend, the Northampton faithful should be happy to see the back of him, leaving as it does assistant manager and former Sunderland boss Malcolm Crosby in temporary charge.
Former Cobblers central defender Sampson, 42, joined the club in 1994 and made over 400 appearances for Town before joining the coaching staff on retirement.
He was handed the manager's in October 2009 after a spell in caretaker charge but has not done enough to please the men in suits.
Chairman David Cardoza told www.ntfc.co.uk: "The club must always come first but that doesn't make this decision any easier. I, my fellow directors, the staff and supporters all wanted Ian to succeed. I really hoped Ian would prove a successful manager here, but I did not see enough signs that we were improving as a side. Ian had put together a decent squad, and in a way that made our league position all the more unacceptable, and we are at a crucial time of year. I wanted to make this change now to give us time to go through a detailed recruitment process and to give the new man time to assess the squad before the end of the season, to look at the budget for next season and have a full summer to recruit and make the changes they see fit."
Oh well, another one down, I hear there's a former Shrimper who has just left the north looking for a job?
The full Cobblers statement:
www.ntfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10425~2306137,00.html