Athletic want to replace sacked Wellens 'as soon as possible'

Athletic chiefs hope to have a new manager in place 'as soon as possible' after opting to dispense with the services of Richie Wellens today (Friday).

In what many onlookers will see as a shock move, Wellens was sacked at lunchtime, presumably on the back of the club's disastrous relegation to League Two on the final day of last season.

It had been looking as though Athletic owner Abdallah Lemsagam was prepared to stick by young boss Wellens - particularly after the marquee signing of striker Jose Baxter earlier this week - but the former Leicester and Doncaster midfield playing star has been given his marching orders.

A club statement read: "Oldham Athletic can confirm that the contract of manager Richie Wellens has been terminated with immediate effect.

"We would like to thank Richie for all his efforts.

"Whilst he was unable to guide us to League One safety after being appointed in October, it certainly wasn’t due to a lack of professionalism and dedication on his part and we wish him every success for the future.

"The club will look to appoint a new manager as soon as possible and will be making no further comment at this time."

Wellens, aged 38, was drafted in as caretaker manager back in September following the sacking of John Sheridan after the club experienced a nightmare start to last season in League One, leaving them without a point for the first month of the campaign.

But an unbeaten run of six games, including four wins and two draws, meant that Wellens quickly became a front runner to replace Sheridan, and he was duly handed the role on a full-time basis soon afterwards.

Despite that impressive start though, a poor January, where the club only picked up a single point, left them still in a relegation dogfight, from which they would never recover, meaning they went into the final game of the season knowing only a victory at Northampton Town would see them definitely safe.

However, their 2-2 draw, coupled with Rochdale beating Charlton Athletic, meant that it was Athletic who were relegated back to the bottom tier for the first time in decades.

Since Athletic’s dramatic and heart-breaking relegation on the final-day of last season, there’s clearly been plenty of soul-searching at the club.

However, Wellens appeared refreshed and re-focused only days ago when he spoke about plotting a path towards an immediate return to the third tier.

“It’s about starting again now,” said Wellens then

“We made a lot of mistakes last season and the owner I came out at the end of it and apologised.

“We went down by one point, but we lost far too many games because of certain situations that were going on.

“We should have been safe comfortably, but we’ve admitted our mistakes now, so let’s forget about that now.

“Let’s start from the bottom, build some momentum and get this club back to where it belongs.

“This club hasn’t had any success for so long. It’s not a nice feeling.

“I was devastated to be part of last season, but I want to be a part of making this club successful again now.

“Nothing will be easy, but if you want to try and fight hard for promotion you have to work so hard.

“If we want a successful season the main ingredient we’ll need is the fight.

“This club shouldn’t be in League Two.

“We’ve taken a backward step, and the only thing on my mind now is to try and secure a successful season this time.

“We all want to give the supporters belief. We are a community club, but it’s always been a club known for being in League One or above.

“Financial-wise it’s important to go back up, but the most important thing for me is to give the supporters a team that will be back playing in League One again the season after next.”

Such is the nature of Football League management at present, Athletic are likely to be inundated with applications for the boss's job.

It's still too early to say who might be in the frame.

Athletic fans offered mixed feelings at the news of Wellens' sacking.

Alex Banham Tweeted: "Should have gone straight after we had been relegated. Waiting a month is strange and more concerning.

Patrick Harwood added: "Should have been done at 8pm on the 5th May."

Joe Bray Tweeted: "Correct decision... a month ago. Now I can't see any benefit to getting rid of Wellens."