Cammell Laird have appointed Tony Sullivan as their new manager

Nov 24 2010 by Our Correspondent, Birkenhead News

CAMMELL LAIRD have appointed Tony Sullivan as their new manager.

The Kirklands outfit wasted little time in finding a replacement for Alex Hay and his assistant Kenny Irons after the pair quit on Tuesday night following victory over Leigh Genesis.

Sullivan – a coach at Laird – brings in Kevin Hodgeson as his number two and believes the club can push up through the levels with him in charge.

“I believe that the club is going in the right direction, and from the boardroom to the dressing room all will be looking to ensure the club can compete not only in this division but also higher, this also applies to the reserve team and we will be all working together to push both teams up the table the right way,” he said.

“Kevin and I have some ambitious plans to take the club forward and we are grateful for the club in granting us this opportunity to show what we can do.”

The club received five applications for the manager’s job but it became a race between Sullivan and Lee Atherton with the former being handed the role at Lairds who are currently 20th in the Evo-Stik First Division North.

Hay and his assistant Kenny Irons quit the Kirklands outfit following the relegation clash with Leigh Genesis.

Despite the 3-1 victory – thanks to goals from Josh Brizzell and two courtesy of Danny Andrews – Hay and Irons had been mulling over the decision to leave Lairds for a couple of months.

Hay cites off the field troubles as his main reason for calling time with Lairds and revealed the board tried to persuade him to stay in charge.

“We resigned last night because of off the field issues, the financial problems had taken its toll,” said Hay with a heavy heart.

“We felt we couldn’t do the job we were employed to do. We hadn’t been able to train as well and it felt like we were just selecting a side to fulfil fixtures.

“The decision hasn’t come over night and though we made our minds up on Sunday, we wanted to go out with a win last night.”