Ian Burchnall

Ian Burchnall is the current Notts County manager, and I’ve seen him mentioned by some on social media. Burchnall is that new breed of coach who never played the game professionally; Liam Manning and Neil Critchley are similar, although the latter appeared once for Crewe. He’s managed before, succeeding Graham Potter at Ostersund, before moving to Meadow Lane. His Notts County side are currently fifth in the National League, which is no mean feat given the competitive nature of the division. He’s certainly done well getting the best out of Rúben Rodrigues, and he appears to be a coach on the up.

I suspect the issue for some would be whether the step up from National League to our division would be too much; there’s also the nature of his reputation within the game. Is he a man you could market to players and clubs as able to develop young talent? He’s certainly a coach first and foremost, with twenty years in the game, and that’s not to be sniffed out. I feel we want to move towards a Brentford model, where a manager coming or going merely maintains the status quo rather than shakes everything up, and Burchnall, could do that.