We take a look at the main men being mentioned as potential candidates to take over at Sincil Bank, and give each a ‘LCM happiness’ rating out of 10 should we get them. On with the show!
Ronnie Moore – Ronnie is perhaps best known for his role at Rotherham Utd, taking then from the Third division to the first division in successive years. He later managed Oldham Athletic, and signed a certain Richard Butcher from City in 2005. Just days after leaving Oldham he found employment at Tranmere, before being sacked last season for missing out on a play off spot. However he doesn’t fit the bill of a young, up and coming manager. There’s also the Rotherham factor as well – they look like losing Mark Robins and will look to Moore as a replacement.
LCM Happiness Rating – 3/10
Colin Calderwood - Made an impression as manager of Northampton Town in 2005, guiding the cobblers to second in league two. He was appointment manager of Nottingham Forest in 2006, and at first started strongly at the City Ground. A play off defeat in his first season in charge seemed like success for some, but Forest felt they should have run away with League One. However he did manage to finish in second place the season afterwards, but after a terrible start to the 08/09 campaign which saw Forest win just 4 games before Christmas in the Championship he was sacked.
Calderwood is currently working with Chris Hughton, father of Imps full back Cian, at Newcastle Utd. It was widely expected he’d become manager of Chesterfield last season, but the indecision of Newcastle owner Mike Ashley in appointing a new manager has left Calderwood there. He was allegedly spotted in the stands for the 3-0 win over Darlington.
LCM Happiness Rating – 6/10
John Pemberton - Pemberton is an interesting contender for the job, and its thought he ahs applied. He had been working for Nottingham Forest as the manager of their reserve team. However in 2008 following the dismissal of first-team manager Colin Calderwood, Pemberton was appointed as caretaker manager for the match against Norwich City and guided Forest to a 3–2 victory, only their fifth of the season. Billy Davies was named as Calderwood’s permanent successor, but not before Pemberton oversaw a tremendous 3-0 FA Cup win over Man City. In June 2009 Nottingham Forest manager Billy Davies reorganized his coaching staff meaning that Pemberton's contract was terminated by mutual consent. He’d be a real gamble by the board, but having worked as a member of Forests backroom team for a decade could be an outside bet.
LCM Happiness Rating – 2/10
Gary Brabin – Brabin appears at the moment to be the bookies favorite, and has said in local media that he will be applying for the job. Brabin played for Doncaster, Hull and Blackpool as well as City on loan, but was never far from controversy. He found himself dismissed numerous times for his various sides, and earned a reputation as a ‘hard man’ with a good workrate. However the troubles continued to follow the hard man, and in 2001 he enraged Torquay fans by gathering a seven match ban after just two months at the club, and later having his contract terminated after describing the area as ‘unappealing’. He later ended his long and chequered playing career at TNS in Wales after suffering a bout of breathlessness in a game. He spent a short time as assistant manager at Witton Albion before returning to plying his trade on the pitch in the non league. Shortly after in June 2007, Brabin was appointed as assistant manager of TNS.
In April 2008 Brabin re-joined Southport as manager and guided the teams into the play offs. However in June 2008, with his stock rising he joined Cambridge Utd. Brabin won his first home game as manager of Cambridge United in July 2008, leading Cambridge United to a 4-2 victory over Everton Football Club in a pre-season friendly, despite David Moyes fielded a near-full first team side. During the subsequent 2008-09 season, Brabin guided Cambridge United to the club's second successive play-off final at Wembley, for promotion to the fourth tier of English League football. They were beaten 2-0 by Torquay United. He was named the Conference National Manager of the Year. Brabin was relieved of his duties as manager on 13 July 2009 by the board following a series of disputes.
LCM remembers Brabin as a player, and must confess to not favoring the portly and aggressive midfielder. However Brabin the manager seems a more cultured product than Brabin the player.
LCM Happiness Rating – 6/10
Mark Cooper - Cooper had a long and varied playing career including spells at Fulham and Birmingham before ending up at Tamworth At the start of the 2003/04 season Mark was appointed Player/Assistant Manager at Tamworth and moved up to manager following the departure of Darron Gee. During his time as Tamworth manager, Cooper managed to get them into the third round of the FA Cup in two consecutive seasons. However in January of 2007 he left Tamworth by mutual consent. His next port of call was the dilapidated Rockingham Road ground as manager of Kettering Town. He had an extremely successful first season with the Poppies, winning the Conference North by seventeen points. In the 2008/09 season, he guided Kettering to The FA Cup 4th round after a replay in the first round proper at Sincil Bank, a joint record for the furthest the club have been in the competition.
Cooper appears a popular choice amongst Imps fans, perhaps more so because it would create further disruption to The Imps public enemy number one, Poppies chairman Imraan ‘king of the statements’ Ladaak.
LCM Happiness Rating - 6/10 (from any other club) 8/10 because it’s Kettering
Gareth Ainsworth – Needs little introduction to Imps fans. Ainsworth has won plaudits throughout his playing career, but has just had two spells as caretaker manager of QPR. However as a Lincoln legend he’d be welcomed with open arms at City, despite his relative youth. However it’s not thought that Ainsworth has actually applied and its unlikely City would match the wages currently being paid to him by QPR.
LCM Happiness Rating – 10/10
Steve Thompson – is well known to Imps fans as match day radio summariser for Radio Lincolnshire, but he also has a long history as a football manager. He first took over as manager of Lincoln in November 1990, with City near the bottom of the Fourth Division. Under his leadership, Lincoln lost only three of the last 18 games that season and finished comfortably in mid-table, avoiding a second relegation to the Conference. However after an erratic season he resigned in May 1993, with one game of the season remaining, after the Lincoln board had decided not to renew his contract.
After leaving Sincil Bank he then joined Kevin Keegan's coaching staff at Newcastle before spending three months as assistant manager at Doncaster Rovers. From there he became Director of Football at Southend United, taking over as manager when Peter Taylor left with the club deep in relegation trouble. Thompson led them to 13th place at the end of the season, but left after that to join former manager Colin Murphy at Notts County. County made the play-offs in their first season in charge, but struggled badly the following year in a season that would see the Magpies relegated to Division Three. Both Murphy and Thompson were sacked before the season finished. Thompson then joined the coaching staff at Sheffield United, and became acting manager shortly after. He guided the Blades to the play-offs and the semi-finals of the FA Cup, but was eventually replaced by Steve Bruce. He was then out of football and worked locally as a labourer before returning to football with Cambridge Utd. He was unable to prevent their relegation to the Conference, and left once the season ended.
In 2006 he was appointed manager of Notts County on a three year deal which was extended by one year in May 2007 , However he was sacked at the start of the 2007-08 seasons after a poor start that saw the Magpies languishing near the bottom of the table.
LCM Happiness Rating – 2/10 (sorry Steve)
Steve Evans – it is believed Crawley manager and Imps public enemy number 2 Steve Evans has applied for the job. He has as much chance of being appointed as I have of making a new coat out of fog, and is as popular in Lincolnshire as a syringe full of AIDS infested blood.
LCM Happiness Rating – 0/10
Simon Davey - Davey was appointed caretaker manager of Barnsley in November 2006. After a successful start he was given the job on a permanent basis at the end of the year and later led the club to a successful fight against relegation. He later signed a four-year contract in December 2007 after an impressive start to the following season. Two months later he led the club to a shock FA Cup win at Liverpool and 3 weeks after that, led them to victory over Chelsea to take the club into the semi-finals, before losing to Cardiff City in the semi finals. On Saturday 29 August 2009, shortly after a Carling Cup win at Sincil Bank, Davey's contract was terminated by mutual consent after the club only gained 1 point from their first 5 matches.
Although Davey is thought to have applied, it is unlikely he’ll be given a chance at managing the Imps.
LCM Happiness Rating – 3/10
Mark Yates – is a former Imps loanee and currently manager of BSP side Kidderminster Harriers. He started his managerial career as first team coach at Burnley alongside the manager who had signed him at Cheltenham, Steve Cotterill. Following a year and a half in that role, Yates was offered the chance to take up his first managerial position by former club Kidderminster, now back in the Conference, a position which he took up in January 2006. In his first season in charge he steered the club to safety from relegation, and in the second secured a top-half finish as well as an FA Trophy Final place at the new Wembley Stadium. He was twice voted Manager of the Month in this second season, for the months of December 2006 and January 2007.
Yates is an outsider for the job, but may just fit the bill of an up and coming manager, although his Kidderminster has been successful but unspectacular.
LCM Happiness Rating – 2/10
Ian Bogie – has guided Gateshead to two consecutive promotions, and is an ex Newcastle Utd star who still regularly competes in the legend soccer sixes team alongside Peter Beardsley and Robert Lee. Bogie is a name that again hasn’t been mentioned too much, but he could also fit the criteria for managing City. He won the Conference North last season and now see’s his Gateshead side sit third bottom in the BSP.
LCM Happiness Rating – 3/10
LCM believe that either Mark Cooper or Gareth Ainsworth would be the best choice, with us putting out money on Cooper to become the next boss. However names such as Keith Alexander and Stuart Bimson also keep being mentioned. The truth is until a full and frank interview process has been undertaken it's unlikely we'll be any closer to knowing the identity of the next 'Lord Of The Imps'.