Athlone Town have moved to clarify news of Roddy Collins' replacement as manager.
Earlier today, a tweet on the Athlone Town account claimed that a new manager would be named tomorrow.
But the club now say the Twitter account was hacked.
Account was compromised earlier tonight and we now have full control again. Panic over move along folks.
— Athlone Town FC (@AthloneTownFC) November 12, 2013
Roddy Collins and Stuart Byrne were speaking live on Off The Ball tonight for their regular League of Ireland chat when a listener pointed out the original tweet from the Athlone Town account:
News on the appointment of the new manager tomorrow.
— Athlone Town FC (@AthloneTownFC) November 12, 2013
Collins guided the midlands club to the First Division title this season and was expected to lead the club in next season's Premier Division.
Yet based on the original tweet, the club did not inform him that they were appointing a replacement before tweeting the news, and Roddy was stunned by the sudden decision.
"That's League of Ireland football," said Roddy of the news. "That's news to me. That's 100 per cent news to me. I knew it was advertised for interviews on Friday. I've never applied for any other job. But I've never been approached by Athlone to stay. My last conversation with the club was last Thursday and I made it clear that I had no desire to leave the club. I've had no meaningful dialogue though since we won the league six weeks ago."
