me" and that he had intended to leave but Hill persuaded him to stay on as caretaker as the two men remained close friends. After two wins in three games as caretaker-manager, Flitcroft was appointed to the position on a permanent basis on 13 January. The club had come close to appointing Sean O'Driscoll and Terry Butcher but resorted to Flitcroft after those negotiations broke down. Promising centre-back John Stones was sold to Everton at the end of the month. Flitcroft brought in striker Jason Scotland, who had secured his release from Ipswich Town, and signed Chris O'Grady on loan from Sheffield Wednesday, who would later be signed permanently for £300,000. The "Tykes" reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, where they were beaten 5–0 by Manchester City at the City of Manchester Stadium, with Carlos Tevez scoring a hat-trick. Flitcroft guided Barnsley to Championship safety on the final game of the 2012–13 season with a 2–2 draw at Huddersfield Town and stated that it was "Mission Impossible achieved". In addition to O'Grady, Flitcroft spent £250,000 on Dale Jennings from Bayern Munich II in June 2013. Included in his free signings were Lewin Nyatanga, Jean-Yves Mvoto and Marcus Pedersen, whilst Paddy McCourt and Peter Ramage signed on loan. On 30 November 2013, Flitcroft was sacked after a 3–0 home defeat to Birmingham City left Barnsley bottom of the Championship. Bury Flitcroft was appointed as manager of Bury on 9 December 2013, who were then 20th in League Two. He told the press that his team were too inexperienced and he wanted to bring in "that middle range – that bracket of 25 to 30-year-olds that have been around the game and know the game, but are still dynamic". However he also acknowledged that the squad was too big and that players would have to leave. In the January transfer window he released five players – Gareth Roberts, Shaun Harrad, Marlon Jackson, Euan Holden and Jessy Reindorf, and renovated the defence by signing Pablo Mills, Robbie McIntyre, James Burke, Frédéric Veseli and Jim McNulty. He was named as League Two Manager of the Month for February after overseeing an unbeaten month that gained the club 11 points, including a 4–1 win at Mansfield Town. Bury ended the 2013–14 season in 12th-place. Backed by ambitious owner Stewart Day, Flitcroft signed experienced players such as Kelvin Etuhu, Nicky Adams, Ryan Lowe and Shwan