The termination of Ellie Wilson as trainer for one-time First Division powerhouses PHC has the team's recently installed head coach Jack Castle fuming.

Castle this week voiced his displeasure over the matter, saying that PHC were wrong in the manner by which they chose to end Wilson's tenure at the Warwick club.

"I'm not happy with the way in which the club has dealt with Ellie Wilson and then firing him because of his pending (court) case,'' said Castle, who has had previous conflicts with management and only returned to the club in June following two years of `exile' after a previous dispute.

"I don't have a problem with not working with him, but I do have a problem with the manner in which the club went about getting rid of him,'' said Castle.

Wilson, a former player for the club, martial arts expert and fitness guru, was charged earlier this year with possession of heroin with intent to supply.

However, Castle did not believe this to be grounds for dismissal, especially considering that Wilson has not had his guilt proven.

Moreover, the new coach added that the fact that neither were informed through the proper channels of the decision to terminate Wilson's post had left a sour taste.

"They never sat him down formally or had him to a meeting or dealt with it in a diplomatic fashion as they should have,'' said Castle.

"Instead they informed him in a meeting at the same time they introduced me to the team as coach and it took everybody by surprise.

"I think the club -- because of his situation -- jumped the gun and the loss off Ellie Wilson has definitely had some effect on my preseason training.

"For a number of years he's been our physical fitness man. He knows his stuff, is a motivator and an inspiration for players in the football sense and I don't want to get football and social mixed up.'' Castle added that he was still able to implement several of Wilson's techniques when it came to the physical aspect of training, but he said there was "no substitute for the energy and inspiration Wilson brought.'' He added that he had had conversations with club president Doronda Smith, but got the feeling that management were simply trying to allow the situation to "blow over''.

Neither Smith nor Wilson could be reached for comment.