Blackpool sacking was tough to take for Simon Grayson

The 50-year-old, who had overseen a dismal run of just one win in 12 games prior to his exit, told the EFL’s official podcast the sacking was “tough” to take.

He said owner Simon Sadler had initially claimed the aim was to consolidate and build for the next two or three years, only for expectations to increase once the side sat in the play-offs at the start of December.

Recalling his brief seven-month tenure at Bloomfield Road, Grayson revealed: “The Blackpool job became available, I met the owner and I felt it was a good opportunity.

“Not just because I was going back to the club, but it was more about what the future could entail.

“Everything the owner was saying was about how we were going to rebuild the club, because it’s been built on sand for years and years, so we’ve got to make sure we build it.

“He said we had no aspirations of getting promoted this year but we’d like to be in amongst it, then over the next two or three years we want to keep building the club, get the supporters back and build a new training ground.

“As long as he could see the team was getting better and building and building, that’s all he was looking for. Some people talk like that and then…

“We go two points off the top two in December and the expectancy levels went through the roof and probably by doing that, the expectancy levels went too high and you end up losing your job off the back of it.

“Sometimes it’s best to keep your side in the lower expectancy levels and not get too carried away, but that’s just football and that’s how it’s changed over the number of years.

“People want success, they’re hungry for success, but sometimes they’re not ready for success how they want it to be.

“It’s been tough to take because I went from having someone say I’m going to be given a long time to do this, that and the other, but you weren’t, and the club didn’t ride a little bit of criticism from supporters when we went through a tough time.

“It makes you think ‘do I need to go through all of this?’”