Michael Appleton’s backroom staff is set to change again with the departure of goalkeeper coach Andy Warrington today.
Andy has been with the club for little over a year, having joined in July 2018. He took temporary charge of team affairs alongside Jamie McCombe when the Cowley’s left the club, but slipped back into his usual role when Michael Appleton arrived.
He’s now accepted a role with Rotherham United, a club he 205 appearances for and the town in which he currently lives. The lure of working closer to home and with a team he played for was too much of a lure, as manager Michael Appleton revealed in a phone call with me this evening.
“Andy was really torn and upset,” said Michael after finally fighting through the Christmas Market traffic to get home.
“He made it very clear to me he was really enjoying himself at Lincoln. He found it really hard talking about it (his departure) when we were discussing it. I think if it were any other club coming in for him, he would have chosen to stay.”
However, the benefits of working closer to home were just too much to give us the upper hand.
“Rotherham are his hometown club, he lives ten minutes from the ground and from a family point of view it is much easier for him. There were just so many things working in their favour in terms of getting his services.”
Michael paid tribute to Andy’s input over the last couple of months and confirmed that talks were already underway to bring in a replacement.
“Since I’ve come in, he’s been great, he’s been really helpful to me and he’s very competent at what he does. We are in discussions already with possible candidates to replace Andy.”
Prior to working with the Imps, 43-year-old Warrington had coached at Grimsby Town after a playing career which saw him represent York City, Doncaster Rovers, Bury and Buxton, as well as the Millers.
He made his debut for York in a League Cup clash against Manchester United featuring Schmeichel, Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, Cole and Cantona. The Minstermen lost 3-1, but had already done enough at Old Trafford to secure progress.