Eastham sad to see Sheridan leave Fleetwood but excited by Barton appointment
Barton, 35, has penned a three-year deal and will take on the head coach role at Highbury on June 2, when his ban from football expires.Barton replaces experienced League One manager John Sheridan, who has left the club after steering Town to safety in his 13 games in charge.Town’s player of the year Eastham thanked Sheridan for the job he did at Highbury but is excited about meeting former Manchester City and Burnley midfielder Barton when the players return for pre-season on June 18.The 27-year-old said: “I’d like to thank John Sheridan because he has done a fantastic job.“We will be sad to see him go but the club has decided to go ahead with a new manager and we are really excited about that. You cannot judge a man before he has ever managed a team.“One thing is for sure – he was a hell of a player, so I’d like to think he’s got a lot of good coaching techniques.“He is the type of guy who can get us really excited and playing well.”Sheridan had been tipped to make an immediate return to management with newly promoted National League side Salford City but it is another former Fleetwood boss, Graham Alexander, who has made that two-division drop.National League North champions Salford parted company with the management duo of Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley in their quest to appoint an experienced League manager.Alexander guided Town to promotion from League Two in 2014, and although his three-year spell at Highbury ended in 2015 he was soon back in League One as manager of Scunthorpe.He steered the Iron to the play-offs last term and left the club in March, again bound for the play-off semi-finals to face Rotherham.The 46-year-old has been given a four-year contract by Gary Neville and the rest of the ‘Class of 92’ owners at Salford, where he will be joined by his Fleetwood assistant Chris Lucketti.Alexander said: “The possibilities here are boundless. There is a great deal of work to be done on and off the pitch to fulfil the potential of Salford City and I can’t wait to get started.“I look forward to meeting everybody connected with SCFC and developing the relationships which are so important to any club’s success”