Gannon Sacked for Lack of Loyalty... A Far Cry From Stockport Days

What a christmas present from the Motherwell board to Jim Gannon: sacking him, with their reasoning that he had "refused to sign a new contract". They say that the desicion is not football related, but is it really a coincidence that his firing came after 4 straight defeats? Still, even after this poor run they're on course to better last season's 7th placed finish. The relationship between board and manager seemed strained right from the off however and it's more than possible that John Boyle (Chairman) anticipated him resigning and opted to sack him first in an effort to save face if you like.
Why is this so interesting? Well, not only is this a case of a manager being sacked far too early into his reign by an intefering chairman, but Gannon also showed a huge amount of loyalty last season by staying loyal to Stockport when they started suffering from extreme financial problems. Only when he had actually been made redundant did he leave - despite having many oppurtunities to do so before hand.
Just three months prior to his departure and with Stockport really struggling, he was intervewed for the vacant managerial position at Brighton, who are quite frankly a richer club with more potential, yet he choose to stay loyal to the club he loves.
I think that's the key point: he absolutely adored Stockport, having spent 10 years their as a player, and then 4 as a manager (where he had done a fantastic job and is still held in very hard regard by the County fans). His whole attitude whilst at the club was one that is sorely lacking in a lot of managers who see career progression as their sole of objective - Steve Bruce, yes I do mean you. In fact although Gannon had refused to speak to the media for the latter part of season in protest against the way the club was being run, he did seem genuinely upset at being made redundant. I would assume that rather than being dissapointed for personal reasons (having lost his job), he was far more upset to see the club he loved going downhill. If it was up to him, I'm sure he would have stayed on reduced wages to help the club out.
In a strange way his behaviour at Stockport reminded me of a certain Steve Coppell. Granted he was slightly before my time at Palace, but he certainly seemed to have similar characterisitcs to Gannon in the sense a lot of his motivation for managing the club was that he absolutely loved it. Not once has he managed a "big" club and the reason for that is not his ability - it's because he's always been satisfied at the club he's at, feeling no real need to further himself. Had he resigned after getting Reading to 8th in the Premiership, I'm sure he could have got a bigger and more well payed job, but he didn't because he loved the club.
It is a shame that examples of loyalty from managers are quite rare. I suppose in the cut and thrust business that it is, perhaps certain managers believe they have to leave clubs to further their careers as there won't be any second chance. However, there are some managers that manage teams they love and want to do well not just to make themselves better managers but because they love the club they're at. The more managers there are in the game like that, the better football will become.