Neil Tooth “gutted” after being sacked by Sutton Coldfield Town

NEIL TOOTH says he is “gutted” to have been sacked as Sutton Coldfield Town boss after a difficult start to the Evo-Stik NPL Premier season.

Tooth stepped up from assistant manager to take charge of the Royals in 2012 and he led them to promotion via the Evo-Stik NPL Division One South play-offs in 2014-15.

They enjoyed a successful first season at Step 3, finishing an impressive 12th, but their second campaign hasn’t started as positively.

Tooth has seen a number of his key players go down with injuries and it has meant the Royals currently sit in the Evo-Stik NPL Premier’s bottom four with three wins from 19 games.

Saturday’s narrow 2-1 loss at high-flying Buxton – their fourth defeat in five league games – spelt the end for Tooth’s time in charge and he was relieved of his duties on Sunday.

In a statement, Tooth said: “I received a phone call last night (Sunday) to inform me that I was being relieved of my duties as first team manager of Sutton Coldfield Town.

“This came as a total shock to me as only two weeks ago I sat down with the chairman and general secretary and offered to stand aside to be told that they did not want anyone else in charge and that they backed me to get the side away from the relegation troubles.

“To say I’m gutted would be an understatement as I have given the football club my everything in the seven years I’ve been involved as both assistant manager and then as manager but I totally understand that we are in a results business and this season, although I believe we were beginning to turn a corner, the results have not been there.

“It was always going to be hard to replicate the success of last season but the remit given to me at the start of the season was to stay in the league and I truly believe we would have done that. I’ve always said you need luck to be successful and this season we have had none.

“I truly wish everyone involved with Sutton Coldfield Town all the very best for the future. I can hold my head high that I leave the club in a far better position than when I took over and I’ll always be proud of what we achieved in my time in charge.”