Graham Alexander Leaves Fleetwood
Former Preston North End player Graham Alexander has stepped down as manager of Fleetwood Town just weeks into taking the job at the club after he reportedly had a bust up with a number of his players in a team bonding session. The Scotsman had only taken over weeks ago after retiring as a player at the end of the 2011-12 season, and stated when he first joined the club that he looks to help the club climb the divisions in the football league. The club went on a team bonding session to the lake district last season as chairman Andy Pilley felt that after all the new arrivals the squad needed time to gel and get to know each other ahead of the clubs pre-season schedule and League Two campaign. The bust up between Graham Alexander and 3 players, including striker Jamille Matt, were apparently cause over Alexander favouring the white players on the team.
Alexander began his career as a youth player at Scunthorpe United where he was there for 3 years before breaking into the first team, where he made 159 appearances and scored 18 goals. In 1995, he moved to Luton for the start of his 4 year spell at the club, where he scored 15 goals in 152 appearances. In 1999, Alexander moved to Preston North End, where he spent 8 years at the club making 354 league appearances scoring 52 goals. In 2007, after Crystal Palace had a £50,0000 bid rejected for him, and eventually moved to Burnley for a fee of £200,000, almost 9 years after they had originally tried to sign him. During his time at Turf Moor, Alexander made 154 appearances scoring 20 goals, where he was part of the squad who won promotion to the Premier League and also getting relegated straight away. In 2011, Alexander returned to Preston where he scored twice in 18 games, while also becoming the clubs caretaker manager during the season too.
Fleetwood fans have said they are said to see him go after his long service in football, but will hope the new manager will be just as good and experienced. A number of names have gone round as of who could get the job, with names such as Phil Brown, promotion winning manager Micky Mellon and Steve Coppell all being linked with the job.