Greatholder, a Napier bank manager, helped Bay United make the cut to the playoffs of the ASB Premiership for the first time in the nine-year history of the national summer league two seasons ago and followed it up again last summer as the team went on to pick up the 2013 Team of the Year title at the annual Hawke's Bay Awards.
The former Bay United player and captain, who was a finalist for the annual Bay coach of the year award last Saturday night, has said he left a debriefing not long after the end of the season in February on the understanding he was keen to carry on as coach but wanted to know if the position would offer support because the current part-time one put too much pressure on him to organise "everyday chores".
Patterson said the board "never sidelined" Greatholder but felt he could learn a bit more about soccer and the door to the franchise was always open to him in other capacities this season.
However, other sources claimed the board and Central Football, the amateur body running the code in the region, were not coming clean on the impasse.
One of them said Greatholder didn't pursue a fulltime job.
"He simply wanted a structure and pathway to allow him to do his job as a part-timer without having to worry about other things such as player management and all those other administrative things that the board could have helped him with because he got quite stressed out. There were other personal issues going on in his life but we don't need to know about all that."
Another source said it was ironic that had it not been for an administrative blunder Greatholder and the Bay United squad would have been having a historic shot at the Oceania League (O-League) with premiership champions Auckland City FC.
A Bay United administrator had filed the registration form to play defensive midfielder Harry Edge but overlooked the fact New Zealand Football had not cleared him before the kick off against newcomers Wanderers Soccer Club in Hamilton.
Edge came off the bench in the last few minutes so Bay United had to forfeit points to the last-placed Wanderers from the 3-1 victory in January that robbed Greatholder and his men of an O-League berth. Team Wellington, who were tied on 26 points but boasted a better goal average, claimed the berth.
During Greatholder's month-long leave, Bay United drew 2-2 with Waitakere United, pipped Canterbury United 1-0 and drew 4-4 with Auckland City.
However, a source said the purple patch in that spell should be attributed to Cotton, not Angell.
"We were shocked that Perry didn't get the interim coaching job.
"The wins had a lot to do with PC."
Angell was conspicuously absent from the sidelines on game days.
"I don't think Brett's a bad coach. He knows his football but he's not a people person," another source said, adding Angell was better off "around the kids" in the Central region.
"The way everyone [players] were acting when he was coaching at training it was obvious the players didn't want him there and I think it was also obvious Brett knew he wasn't wanted there either."
Another insider said Angell was guilty of trying to assert himself on the players too much.
"He tried to change things within 48 hours and that just wasn't going to happen."
The source felt protocol dictated he should have followed Greatholder's blueprint and, if need be, gradually injected his philosophy.
"It seems the board and Central Football wanted Brett Angell there from the word go.
"I think they're going to piss off a lot of people if they appoint him and not Chrissy," another source said.
