Managers’ chief backs Ron's return

LEAGUE Managers’ chief John Barnwell has backed Ron Atkinson’s return to the game — providing Swindon boss Iffy Onuora is happy with it too.

Atkinson will arrive at the Coca-Cola League One outfit today to front a TV documentary, 19 months after the racist slur which cost the former Manchester United manager his lucrative contract as a summariser for ITV.

High-profile black players such as Ian Wright and Robbie Earle have been damning in their condemnation of Atkinson, whose off-microphone comments about Marcel Desailly following Chelsea’s Champions League semi-final defeat to Monaco in 2004 were accidentally broadcast in Dubai and relayed around the world.