Next Manager/Head Coach Discussion | Page 74 | Vital Football

Next Manager/Head Coach Discussion

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If they are available, to not reappoint the Cowleys would be a mistake.

The decision now isn’t just purely on footballing terms. The last two appointments seem to have created a disconnect between the club and the fans, which needs to be fixed through the club re-energising the fan base in the way that the Cowleys did so successful.

I am not convinced the club has ‘net’ moved forward overall since the Cowleys. Yes we have better infrastructure and possibly a more appealing model for investors but something that money can’t buy is the goodwill of the fans, which is absolutely paramount to Lincoln’s success. Sadly, this seems to be ebbing, possibly due to a few years of cynical football and bland characters running the team.

On the Facebook page, c.65% of fans (of 600 or so) have voted to say they’d want the Cowleys back. There’s also clearly a desire on here by a majority of us for the Cowleys to return.

On this basis, if possible, I think the club need to either 1) distance themselves from any indication the Cowleys could return if this is not the case (in order to manage the fans expectations and prevent the job becoming a poisoned chalice for the next person) or 2) If they are interested in us then bring them back!
 
Stating the obvious, in one way the longer this goes on, more chance of not landing our first choice. We might for example have been closing in on someone who is now holding out to see if they can get the Oxford job.
I would be surprised if at least one out of Bradley, Duff or Kenny wasn’t on our radar, but now all in one way or another distancing themselves,but I guess unless you go for the Graham Alexander type choice ( I.E. no one else wants them) it’s like knitting fog to try and get all the elements to come together!
 
Londonimp12 said:
If they are available, to not reappoint the Cowleys would be a mistake.

The decision now isn’t just purely on footballing terms. The last two appointments seem to have created a disconnect between the club and the fans, which needs to be fixed through the club re-energising the fan base in the way that the Cowleys did so successful.

I am not convinced the club has ‘net’ moved forward overall since the Cowleys. Yes we have better infrastructure and possibly a more appealing model for investors but something that money can’t buy is the goodwill of the fans, which is absolutely paramount to Lincoln’s success. Sadly, this seems to be ebbing, possibly due to a few years of cynical football and bland characters running the team.

On the Facebook page, c.65% of fans (of 600 or so) have voted to say they’d want the Cowleys back. There’s also clearly a desire on here by a majority of us for the Cowleys to return.

On this basis, if possible, I think the club need to either 1) distance themselves from any indication the Cowleys could return if this is not the case (in order to manage the fans expectations and prevent the job becoming a poisoned chalice for the next person) or 2) If they are interested in us then bring them back!
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Re: fan engagement and fan expectation
The cowleys came in at a unique point, we were at a very low ebb, but were still a biggish fish in a small pond. And we had new investment and a great chairman to go with it. Expectations were low, so it was possible to over-deliver.

No doubt they over-delivered. my question would be, did the new found experience of the team winning very regularly - after years of not winning regularly at all - create the connection with the fans?

I ask this, because at huddersfield (winning less often, with fans recently used to the premier league) did they create a unique connection with fans. And at Portsmouth (winning more often, but with much higher fan expectations to win regularly) did the fans love them?

Are the Portsmouth and huddersfield fans missing the cowleys, and want them back because of the way they enthuse the fan base, coach players, and win matches?

Imps are currently at a 40 year high point, so what will fan expectations be of the cowleys if they return? It was two promotions, one play off, once per hundred years fa cup run to the quarter final, and a Wembley cup win last time.
 
Londonimp12 said:
If they are available, to not reappoint the Cowleys would be a mistake.

The decision now isn’t just purely on footballing terms. The last two appointments seem to have created a disconnect between the club and the fans, which needs to be fixed through the club re-energising the fan base in the way that the Cowleys did so successful.

I am not convinced the club has ‘net’ moved forward overall since the Cowleys. Yes we have better infrastructure and possibly a more appealing model for investors but something that money can’t buy is the goodwill of the fans, which is absolutely paramount to Lincoln’s success. Sadly, this seems to be ebbing, possibly due to a few years of cynical football and bland characters running the team.

On the Facebook page, c.65% of fans (of 600 or so) have voted to say they’d want the Cowleys back. There’s also clearly a desire on here by a majority of us for the Cowleys to return.

On this basis, if possible, I think the club need to either 1) distance themselves from any indication the Cowleys could return if this is not the case (in order to manage the fans expectations and prevent the job becoming a poisoned chalice for the next person) or 2) If they are interested in us then bring them back!
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I do think waiting until next week points to an Irish connection and the two main contenders seem to be messing us about ? to get a better deal maybe from their current Clubs, we could lose out on both if indeed we wanted them in the first place. I have supported the Cowleys return, they might not have left on very good terms , but that was 4 years ago. We as a Club have moved on, and so have they gaining much more football experience at the two bigger Clubs they moved to, and their legacy at LCFC, especially at the Training Ground and fan base, is there for all to see. They know the Club, the City and especially the Supporters, nobody other than them can tick these boxes. They do not currently have a Coaching role and I think if we dont employ them now it is very unlikely to happen in the future. I just fear we are not going to do it.
UTI.
 
Red Wimp said:
Stating the obvious, in one way the longer this goes on, more chance of not landing our first choice. We might for example have been closing in on someone who is now holding out to see if they can get the Oxford job.
I would be surprised if at least one out of Bradley, Duff or Kenny wasn’t on our radar, but now all in one way or another distancing themselves,but I guess unless you go for the Graham Alexander type choice ( I.E. no one else wants them) it’s like knitting fog to try and get all the elements to come together!
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I guess if we were keen on Kenny, we might have always understood the timescales involved and it's not actually that we're going to be screwed the longer it goes on, just won't formally talk about anything yet. All the Ireland managers it feels like there are crunch times around now or slightly later for SK - but also feel Duff and Bradley might be staying if they're 'winning' the battles with their boards.

Kenny was asked directly by Irish press about us at about 1 min 25 and didn't completely shut it down (see below video - speculation could "lead to anything") I would be interested what the answer would be from our side (Liam etc) if asked directly about the link. I guess evasive and not talking about the candidates involved rather than a concrete no?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1722648294281593238

Personally (possible minority of one) the Kenny idea I find quite exciting. Bit of a shiny new toy in the process type thing maybe but he's a manager I wouldn't have expected to attract/we'd never have got before the ROI spell. I remember reading about that Dundalk team and hearing about it on some football podcasts and being super impressed. I think it's interesting - again very much my opinion - how happy people would be to write off Huddersfield/Pompey but not Ireland. And I say that as Cowley fan too.
 
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Londonimp12 said:
If they are available, to not reappoint the Cowleys would be a mistake.

The decision now isn’t just purely on footballing terms. The last two appointments seem to have created a disconnect between the club and the fans, which needs to be fixed through the club re-energising the fan base in the way that the Cowleys did so successful.

I am not convinced the club has ‘net’ moved forward overall since the Cowleys. Yes we have better infrastructure and possibly a more appealing model for investors but something that money can’t buy is the goodwill of the fans, which is absolutely paramount to Lincoln’s success. Sadly, this seems to be ebbing, possibly due to a few years of cynical football and bland characters running the team.

On the Facebook page, c.65% of fans (of 600 or so) have voted to say they’d want the Cowleys back. There’s also clearly a desire on here by a majority of us for the Cowleys to return.

On this basis, if possible, I think the club need to either 1) distance themselves from any indication the Cowleys could return if this is not the case (in order to manage the fans expectations and prevent the job becoming a poisoned chalice for the next person) or 2) If they are interested in us then bring them back!
Click to expand...
"Sadly, this seems to be ebbing, possibly due to a few years of cynical football and bland characters running the team."

There was absolutely no more cynical football than that played by the Cowleys. This absolutely isn't a criticism, I had no problem with it whatsoever, but the Cowleys leveraged every single percentage point they could swing their way in their approach to the game. From our keeper deliberately faking an injury to allow time for a tactical reset, to taking turns to harangue the fourth official they moved every needle they possibly could.

And if our football during our League 1 playoff final season could be described as bland then you and I have very, very different views on what attractive football looks like. Michael Appleton has to go down as one of the unluckiest managers in our history. He produces a team that challenges every single one of the big boys in the league, outplays them on almost every occasion with a style of football that was, at times, breathtaking. Yet somehow that season still gets forgotten in the "general wash" of the "post-Cowleys era"

The Cowley's "ignited" a city because they won, a lot. They were fantastic at engaging with the fans and went over and above what was required on many, many occasions but let's be real if we were still mid-table in the National League and hadn't had that cup run they would be chastised for wasting their time on these activities and full of empty rhetoric when engaging the fans. At the root of all the popularity with Danny and Nicky is winning.

I'll repeat the stat I made on a different thread. Our average crowd during our National League winning season was somewhere around 5,400. The "Lincoln Loco" didn't really start until the Ipswich replay. We sold out Sincil Bank less times in our first season in League 2 less times than we did in our conference season. The club couldn't believe their luck when 5000 fans turned up for the Oldham game.

This isn't about "igniting the fans" or "reconnecting with the base" it's about finding a manager who wins. Pure and simple...
 
Improvise said:
Not sure what the reality is that you think would hit after 3 weeks Chimpimp?

My reality is that this is the 58th season I've been watching the Imps. In that time I've seen 6 promotions (Graham Taylor, Murph x 2, Shane Westley, Danny Cowley x 2) and 7 play off seasons (Big Keith x 4, Schoey, Danny Cowley, Michael Appleton). So 13 out of 58 seasons resulting in a promotion of play off attempt at promotion.

Danny Cowley's record of promotion or play offs was 3 in 3 seasons, i.e. 100%, plus an incredible run to the FA Cup quarter finals, as a non-league club, that may never be repeated by any club.

I'm not expecting that they could come in and 3 weeks later we would be heading to promotion or the play offs again. But what I would expect is that those two guys (because Nicky is as much a part of their success as Danny) would throw themselves back into the job with the dedication and enthusiasm that they showed before. Their interaction with the fans was second to none. They are highly intelligent guys who must have learnt so much more from their experience at Huddersfield and Portsmouth (neither of which were failures in my eyes) and who would inspire, adapt and change as necessary to keep our club moving in the right direction.

I was absolutely gutted when they left because I really believed they could take us to the Championship. I still do and I'll be equally gutted if they aren't given the opportunity to continue what they started at Sincil Bank. In fact I'll probably be even more gutted because the timing of us needing a new manager (head coach!) may never again coincide with them being out of work and feeling that they'd like to return to Sincil Bank.
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Well said, agree with all this. My 55th season. Probably the only opportunity ever to get them back.
 
Sincilbanks said:
"Sadly, this seems to be ebbing, possibly due to a few years of cynical football and bland characters running the team."

There was absolutely no more cynical football than that played by the Cowleys. This absolutely isn't a criticism, I had no problem with it whatsoever, but the Cowleys leveraged every single percentage point they could swing their way in their approach to the game. From our keeper deliberately faking an injury to allow time for a tactical reset, to taking turns to harangue the fourth official they moved every needle they possibly could.

And if our football during our League 1 playoff final season could be described as bland then you and I have very, very different views on what attractive football looks like. Michael Appleton has to go down as one of the unluckiest managers in our history. He produces a team that challenges every single one of the big boys in the league, outplays them on almost every occasion with a style of football that was, at times, breathtaking. Yet somehow that season still gets forgotten in the "general wash" of the "post-Cowleys era"

The Cowley's "ignited" a city because they won, a lot. They were fantastic at engaging with the fans and went over and above what was required on many, many occasions but let's be real if we were still mid-table in the National League and hadn't had that cup run they would be chastised for wasting their time on these activities and full of empty rhetoric when engaging the fans. At the root of all the popularity with Danny and Nicky is winning.

I'll repeat the stat I made on a different thread. Our average crowd during our National League winning season was somewhere around 5,400. The "Lincoln Loco" didn't really start until the Ipswich replay. We sold out Sincil Bank less times in our first season in League 2 less times than we did in our conference season. The club couldn't believe their luck when 5000 fans turned up for the Oldham game.

This isn't about "igniting the fans" or "reconnecting with the base" it's about finding a manager who wins. Pure and simple...
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100% and great post
 
If amongst the names that are floating around (Kenny, Bradley etc) there was an out of work, 45 year old manager, who had a National League promotion, a League 2 promotion, a League 2 playoff appearance on his CV, as well as managing at Championship level, but who’s name wasn’t Cowley, would we be interested as fans and a board at appointing them?
 
Still fail to see any indication that we will be appionting either the Cowleys or anyone with an Irish connection.

I still think it equally likely that our new Head Coach is currently employed in some capacity by a club in the top two divisions.
 
Rasenimp said:

New Manager

It might just be me but i am struggling to see why people are underwhelmed. We are a League 1 side with a budget in the Mid-Lower end. We look like getting a coach who when compared to our most successful manager in the last few decades. * Has more coaching experience than Danny had before...
forums.vitalfootball.co.uk

Interesting reading how we felt when Kennedy first came up... interestingly via the Athletic. My favourite (which didn't really change IMO from then to when he left from @gijsbert_bos):

Don't know why but I don't have a great feeling about Kennedy. Just seems a bit of a smooth talker and I dont know if the substance is there. Nothing more than a gut feeling, though, and his record at Macc which should be disregarded given the circumstances. If he's appointed I'll back him, of course, but it wouldn't get me as excited as Foster, Bradley or Barry.

I also forgot about the Anthony Barry rumour at the time - he's now assistant at Bayern Munich!
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Pleased to see I was at least consistent!
 
johnolbe said:
Chimp, I’ve just remembered you defended Kennedy to the hilt and you thought he was a good manager till the day he was booted out. I take it that you not liking DC is a good omen
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Yep, probably right
Doing everything I can for you....

(I do like DC just don't think he's right now)
 
RAK1MP said:
If amongst the names that are floating around (Kenny, Bradley etc) there was an out of work, 45 year old manager, who had a National League promotion, a League 2 promotion, a League 2 playoff appearance on his CV, as well as managing at Championship level, but who’s name wasn’t Cowley, would we be interested as fans and a board at appointing them?
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Not to mention a Wembley Cup Final win against a higher division club.
 
Davidimp said:
Des Buckingham
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Does that correlate with the betting suspended or just a name you saw?

He was interesting to read about - but I thought Oxford sounded more likely as he had a connection there? They were keen on him on their forum. Heavily involved with the Man City group.
 
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