10 names in the frame to replace Mark Kennedy at Lincoln City
Mark Kennedy along with his assistant head coach Danny Butterfield have left the Imps
Our EFL pundit Gab Sutton takes a look at 10 options for his replacement at the League One club.
1. Tom Shaw
Tom over-Shaw a strong performance in his first game as interim Head Coach, a 1-0 victory at Fleetwood, as the Ethan Compound of Erhahon and Hamilton continues to thrive in midfield.
The 36-year-old is clearly highly thought of internally, having been at Lincoln for the last five years, and he has been largely responsible for the excellent out-of-possession structure that’s been established since the start of last season.
As such, there’s an argument for Shaw to represent the continuity option, bearing in mind Kennedy left for political reasons rather than footballing ones, especially if he continues to thrive in his caretaker stint.
2. Stephen Bradley
Bradley was heavily linked with the Lincoln job in the summer of 2022 when Kennedy ultimately got the job.
Since then, the 38-year-old has led Shamrock to a League of Ireland title and is on course for another, six points clear with three games to play.
Bradley’s knowledge of the talent across the waters could be key for the Imps, who have already found value in that market with Danny Mandriou enjoying an excellent second season at Sincil Bank and relishing the prospect of linking up again with his old boss after a reported falling out with Kennedy.
Bradley favours an attacking style of football, but he likes a back-four, which would conflict slightly with a Lincoln squad that operated with a three throughout the previous campaign, and in each of their first 12 league games of 2023-24.
3. Danny Cowley
Danny Cowley will always be one of the most loved managers in Lincoln City’s history, and not just because of the considerable achievements under his watch – two titles in three seasons sandwiching a top-seven finish and EFL Trophy win in their first season back in the league, with FA Cup history made along the way.
As much as anything, it was Danny and brother Nicky’s ability to engage a previously disillusioned fanbase, connect with the community and ignite a fire within a club that had previously laid dormant.
As such, there’s a temptation, four years later, to bring the duo in to write the second chapter.
The brothers’ stock has dropped in the intervening period, with circumstances going against them at times, but they delivered competitive results throughout their stints at Huddersfield and Portsmouth, up to the last two months at Fratton Park when they had four central midfielders and two right-backs injured simultaneously.
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4. Damien Duff
Damien Duff’s playing reputation as a flying winger, dovetailing with Arjen Robben at Chelsea, won’t do Lincoln any harm when it comes to inviting external attention and attracting Irish talent which is a big part of the club’s plans.
Nonetheless, Duff is proving a solid coach in his own right: his Shelbourne side has been rock solid defensively, especially from open play.
The 44-year-old is super passionate, too, and loves to celebrate the wins with the fans.
5. Ian Foster
After working his way up England’s youth age groups from Under-18s to Under-20s, Ian Foster left the FA to join Steven Gerrard at Al-Ettifaq.
If the Merseyside-born coach is struggling with the heat in Saudi Arabia, though, he may welcome an opportunity back in England, where his knowledge of the top talents in the country could be handy, when it comes to the loan market, or picking up players who may have dropped out of an elite academy.
Foster’s Young Lions won the UEFA Under-19s European Championships and will be out to follow in the footsteps of Steve Cooper, who won the Under-17s World Cup and is now managing in the Premier League.
6. Phil Parkinson
No, not the Wrexham one, the Altrincham one.
Parkinson led Alty to promotion from the National League North via the Play-Offs in 2019-20, before steering them to safe, 14th and 17th-placed National League finishes on a bottom-end budget, with a club that was previously operating part-time.
All the while, Parkinson’s side have been playing attractive football, and been the top goalscorers in the bottom half, and this season they’re flying high in fifth.
The 42-year-old’s eye for a non-league gem could come in handy.
7. Dean Holden
Holden had a 49% win ratio as Bristol City boss, and at the time of his dismissal in January 2020, his side were level on points with seventh, and the poor recent form had been down to an injury crisis that averaged eight players at a time, and extended to 17 absentees at it’s worst.
After the Mancunian left, City lost 11 of their final 17 under Nigel Pearson, who was rewarded with a three-year contract, and it’s since taken them three years to get back to a similar position to where they were - and that’s with a massively revamped fitness regime and structure.
We can’t call Holden’s time at Ashton Gate a success, exactly, because he didn’t have the opportunity, but there has to be a retrospective upgrading of the work he did there.
Plus, the 43-year-old led the Addicks from 18th to 11th in 2022-23 and was dismissed five games into the subsequent campaign when they had several key players absent, they didn’t have an out-and-out centre-forward available and the squad was imbalanced and reliant on youngsters to fill gaps.
Naturally, for Holden to meet his individual career ambitions, he can ill-afford another hard-luck story, such is the ruthlessly judgmental nature of the industry.
Nonetheless, the difference between him and, say, Rob Edwards at Luton, John Mousinho at Portsmouth or Steven Schumacher at Plymouth Argyle, is that they’ve all had really sound operational figures around them, something Holden hasn’t had as a number one.
If you put Holden in a smart structure, he’s someone who will bring honest yet dignified leadership, and create a positive environment which empowers players and staff to flourish and perform at their best every day.
8. Pete Wild
In prolonged stints as caretaker, Pete Wild got more out of Oldham than any other manager has been able to during Abdallah Lemsagam’s ill-fated ownership regime.
After that, he inherited a Halifax Town club in disarray, and while things stabilised off-the-field during his tenure, two Play-Off finishes in three National League seasons on a bottom-end budget was a fantastic achievement.
Things were a little easier when he joined Barrow, as his appointment followed the arrival of a Sporting Director in Iain Wood, which has streamlined his remit as manager.
Nonetheless, the Bluebirds had finished 20th and 22nd in their first two seasons in the league prior to his entrance, and in his first term, he guided them to the ninth spot.
Wild’s side is on course to better the return of 62 points, they’re unbeaten at home and have had games in that time, like the 2-1 loss at Grimsby and the 2-2 draw at MK Dons in which they could easily have amassed six points rather than one, which would have put them in the Play-Off spots.
Highly animated on the touchlines, and a great man manager, the 39-year-old loves to build sides that thrive against the odds.
9. Jon Brady
It’s time we talked about Jon Brady for bigger opportunities.
The Aussie had a playing career that was modest, and so was his managerial and coaching career prior to the Northampton job, and at one stage his focus was on a non-football business.
That, combined with the fact he’s 48 at a time when a lot of clubs lean towards a slightly different age profile, means Brady can get overlooked.
Plus, for five years after the League Two title-winning season under Chris Wilder, the Cobblers had played rather attritional football, and it may be that the stereotype has stuck for longer than it’s been accurate.
They mixed up their game really well when they won promotion last season, to the point that prodigious Brighton talent, Marc Leonard, wanted to return to Sixfields on loan this season, to work with Brady again, rather than take his club’s suggestion that he went either to a likely promotion candidate, or to the Championship.
Northampton have been playing good stuff in League One this year, and performances suggest a finish higher than their current position of 19th.
Plus, Brady overcame two massive hurdles to achieve success last season: the psychological one of the cruel circumstances in which they missed out the year before, and the practical one of having a double-figured injury list throughout the second half of the campaign.
The former winger adapts to circumstances incredibly well, which underpins his ability to not only find solutions quickly but also build a culture that thrives in adversity.
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Mikey Varas
Landon Donovan – yes, the Landon Donovan from the Beckham documentary – is Lincoln City’s strategic advisor, and if he’s involved in the recruitment process, the club may look to America.
Truthfully, this candidate we’re suggesting could be anyone from across the pond, but we’re plumping for Mikey Varas.
U.S. Soccer Development Academy West Conference U-14 Coach of the Year in 2016-17, Varas has since gone strength-to-strength, and his excellent work with USA’s Under-20s has earned him a place on the senior team’s coaching staff.
If Varas wants to establish himself as a number one and is prepared to swap the Lincoln Memorial for Lincoln: away at the Memorial, well, who knows what sort of sway Donovan could have.
“One of my strongest core values is to compete, to always embrace competition,” said Varas, after taking charge of the U20s.
“I want to get to know the group as well as I possibly can in the time that we have and lay a foundation for the type of culture {we want}."
“That culture is going to be everything to create the feeling that we’re on a mission. We’re going to evaluate where our strengths are and how we can capitalize on those strengths, and understand the areas we have to improve.
