Portsmouth's ex-Lincoln and Huddersfield boss, Danny Cowley, responds to 'not everyone's cup of tea' claim from Accrington manager John Coleman

Coleman made the remark ahead of his side’s trip to Fratton Park tomorrow – but also insisted he was a huge admirer of the Blues duo’s work.

In reply, the Pompey manager cited his non-conventional route into management as to why he could been deemed not to everyone’s taste.

It’s been well documented that the 43-year-old was initially a PE teacher while managing in non-league football.

But success at Concord Rangers and then Braintree saw him progress to Lincoln, where he broke into the Football League before joining Huddersfield in the Championship in 2019.

After being dismissed by the Terriers at the end of the 2019-20 campaign, Cowley then replaced Kenny Jackett at Pompey in March 2021.

As a result, the 43-year-old has overseen matches in every division in English football, apart from the Premier League.

‘We really like John,’ Cowley told The News.

‘I think that they (other managers) probably think our route has been slightly different, hasn’t it?

‘It terms of coming through non-league, there’s probably nobody who’s lived the journey we have in terms of managing in eight of the top nine divisions.

‘I think John respects that because he’s done something similar himself because he started out right in the beginning with Accrington in the lower leagues.’

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