Former Kendal Town boss Tony Greenwood is the second managerial casualty of the season in Blue Square North.

He has been sacked by Fleetwood Town following a poor start to the season just days after Steve Waywell resigned at Hyde United.

Tuesday's 3-1 home defeat by struggling Hucknall Town saw Fleetwood slip into the bottom three and chairman Andy Pilley decided to act.

"We've been pretty poor and my concern is we won't progress as we should and won't get enough fans through the gate," he said.

The Fishermen won three promotions in four years under Greenwood's guidance so Pilley admitted it was a tough call to relieve him of his duties.
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"It was one of the hardest conversations I've ever had in my life," he said.
Pilley has been chairman for four and a half years and Greenwood is the only manager he’s worked with. As well as the promotions Fleetwood also got to the first round of the FA Cup.

But he said: “Ultimately, it's a judgement call - you've got to make brave decisions in football, it's one we'll stand or fall on but we consider it to be in the best interests of the club."

Fleetwood have spent nearly £1.5m on the redevelopment of their Highbury Stadium and made several high-profile signings, including ex-Blackpool players John Hills and Phil Doughty.

"We are ambitious and we've aspirations to progress further still," said Pilley.

"We get pretty good attendances for the level we're at and we think it's an ideal opportunity for a manager to make a name for himself - we expect an awful lot of interest in the vacancy."

Assistant-manager Nigel Greenwood, Tony's brother, and first-team coach Andy Whittaker have also left the club.

Steve Macauley has been appointed as caretaker-manager in the meantime. He has a long association with Fleetwood as a player, coach and physiotherapist.

He will look after team affairs alongside reserve team manager Steve Edwards until a permanent managerial appointment is made.

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