Plymouth Argyle owner and chairman James Brent has hailed the ‘significant contribution’ that John Sheridan made during his time as manager.
Sheridan reached a mutual agreement with the club to cut short his stay as boss, after expressing a desire to relocate to the north of England.The former Chesterfield manager had been in charge at Home Park since January 2013 and, since then, Argyle have gone from Sky Bet League 2 strugglers to promotion-chasers.
His last games in charge came in the League 2 Play-Offs, with the Pilgrims losing their two-legged semi-final against Wycombe Wanderers after a seventh-placed finish in the regular season.
Brent told the club’s official website: “Under his management, Argyle were brought back from the brink of relegation out of the Football League and were subsequently transformed into League 2 promotion contenders.
“Reaching the Play-Offs last season, two years after surviving the drop into non-league on the final day of the 2012/13 campaign, is an achievement of which John, his management team, and the players should rightly be proud.
“While we would have liked John to continue to plot Argyle’s course back up The Football League, we understand his reasons for wanting to leave and have agreed a mutual termination of his contract.
“Everyone at Home Park wishes John every success in his future career. The search for a new manager to take Argyle into the eagerly-anticipated 2015/16 season has already begun.”
John Sheridan added: “It has been a pleasure and a privilege to have been Plymouth Argyle’s manager for the last two and half years, and I would like to thank the Board and the Green Army for supporting me wholeheartedly during my time at Home Park.
“I have thought long and hard about the decision I have reached and I hope people understand the reasons behind it.
“I believe that I leave the club in a far stronger position to reclaim its place at a higher level of the Football League than it was when I first arrived and I wish it nothing but continued success for the future.”