Steve Wicks has the dubious honour of being the Lincoln City manager who served the shortest tenure, a reign that may not have lasted long but had a significant impact on the club and squad.
Despite not being a controversial character, Wicks had already fallen out with one chairman, whilst in control at Scarborough. He’d been the darling of former owner Geoffrey Richmond with the pair presiding over a promising Scarborough side. However, Richmond sold his shareholding in the club and moved to take control of Second Division outfit Bradford City.
Despite the drama in the boardroom, a Wicks-inspired Boro began to string some good results together including three straight wins which clinched the Third Division manager of the month award. Boro finished 1993-94 in 14th position in Division Three, suffering just one defeat in the final six weeks of the season.
The end of season form showed promise for the following campaign, but Wicks was sensationally sacked just 12 days before the start of 1994-95. There was a clash of personalities between Wicks and new chairman John Russell, with Russell admitting, “Some of the fans will be disappointed but we feel that Steve Wicks was not right for Scarborough Football Club.”
Meanwhile, over in Lincoln, things weren’t going well. The bullish, long-ball-driven Sam Ellis had remodelled the squad, but was not having much success. Even the £42,500 purchase of proven scorer Joe Allon couldn’t get the season off the ground, despite an opening day 2-1 win against eventual champions Preston.
After three defeats and a draw, the unpopular Ellis was sacked. His last home game was a 2-2 draw with Scunthorpe in which Lincoln were
direct, unattractive and incredibly lucky to get a draw. Just 2674 watched Tony Daws and Udo ‘boom boom boom’ Onwere score for us. One week later, Steve Wicks sat in the stands watching on as we lost to Barnet.
What fans didn’t know at the time was that Wicks had twice applied for the Lincoln job before, or at least that was what Geoff Davey told Impsline, a phone line you could call at a premium rate to hear the latest news. It suggested the board had finally relented and given a persistent man the job, only he didn’t agree. Wicks was adamant he hadn’t applied before and was approached by John Reames. It wasn’t the greatest start for the new head coach.
Wicks arrived, not as manager, but as a head coach. That basically meant he had control over the playing side, but anything to do with money went through John Reames. The idea was widely panned by fans but, given the later dealings of Wicks, perhaps it was wise.
He had a strong playing career behind him at both Chelsea and QPR. He came with a recommendation too, from none other than his pal Geoffrey Richmond and it was rumoured he had been suggested as an ‘up and coming’ coach by FA officials at a meeting John Reames had earlier attended. Wicks hadn’t just managed Scarborough, but he’d also been assistant manager at Portsmouth before becoming part of the management set up at Newcastle Utd.
His coaching credentials couldn’t be questioned and he seemed perfect to sit in the hot seat and pass on his progressive ideas to the squad. The fans warmed quickly to Wicks, who was both charismatic and convincing. That was a breath of fresh air in the wake of City’s poor start to the season.
He hosted a fans forum in which he convinced those assembled he was proud to be in charge of City and would work hard to turn things around. The signs all pointed to a long and emphatic success, just as long as he could get the squad playing the sort of football he felt won games. Early results weren’t good, but a desire to play attractive football won some over.
One early turning point came against Bury, where City bagged a 2-2 draw (Daws and Onwere again). They equalised late on and Wicks sent the subs boards flying in rage at the blow. It was a rare show of passion after seeing an impassive eEllis hunched in the dugout, but kicking boards doesn’t bring results.
Results weren’t good, but his transfer policy proved to be something else entirely. He got rid of the incredibly popular Dean West in a straight swap for a journeyman midfielder by the name of Kevin Hulme. West went on to represent Burnley for many years, whilst Hulme went on to be a scaffolder and van driver, probably.
As well as that transfer, Joe Allon handed in a transfer request and defender Colin Greenall followed suit. Was there a mutinee, or was Wicks just clearing the decks of deadwood, albeit £42,500 prolific deadwood?
On getting rid of Dean West, Wicks said; “A lot of people have come up to me and expressed surprise that I let Dean West leave the club. I felt we needed a tough backbone to the side and Kevin Hulme fits the bill.”
The Lincoln City side he inherited had some very good players. Dean West, Darren Huckerby, David Puttnam, Matt Carbon, David Johnson, Grant Brown and even Tony Daws had the potential, if they could have been moulded correctly. Wicks didn’t persevere with the players he had though, he quickly made changes without thought.
David Puttnam and Dean West had both scored in the opening day win against Preston, but both played their last game for the club as Cambridge beat us 3-1 at the Bank. Wicks even brought back Darren Davis, although he was told to sling his hook the minute John Beck came in.
Players like Puttnam and Johnson shouldn’t have been striving to make a long ball game work under Ellis, but players such as Steve Brown and Kevin Hulme were not faces you wanted at a team playing slick football. The policy of Wicks seemed at odds with his philosophy and perhaps that muddled approach reflected on the performance against Cambridge. Also, how could a partnership of Joe Allon and Tony Daws not have brought goals? Allon played four league games for Lincoln, his final appearance also coming after the 3-1 defeat against Cambridge.
The final nail came away at Plymouth a week after the Cambridge game. With so many players appearing for the final time against The U’s, it stood to reason there was a new look to the team at Home Park. Alan Johnson made his first appearance of the season, Paul Wanless made his penultimate appearance for City and defensively, we were shambolic. Adrian Littlejohn’s 20th minute goal was the third the hosts bagged and a massacre looked on the cards. City were abysmal, although we didn’t concede any more, many fans were left wondering what on earth was going on. Only younger players such as Matt Carbon, the subject of a failed £300,000 bid by Birmingham, and Darren Huckerby looked as though they cared that afternoon.
After the Plymouth game, both Allon and Puttnam left. Puttnam, once rated as a £300,000 player, went for a pittance. We broke even on Allon, although he was another prolific striker to endure the Imps curse. Maybe those transfers prompted the board to act, maybe not, but they took place in the final week ahead of Wicks’s sacking.
Wicks’ spell in charge lasted from September 2nd until Sunday 15th October officially, but before he went everyone knew it was going to happen. His departure was leaked ahead of the game with Scarborough on 14th, just over a month into his tenure. In that time City had won just once, a somewhat swashbuckling win against Rochdale in the Auto Windscreens Shield, a game in which Darren Huckerby and Magic Johnson bagged a brace. It wasn’t enough to save his skin.
The fans still found Wicks endearing; chanting his name, the Imps ground out a 0-0 draw at the McCain Stadium, showing unwavering support for the soon-to-be unemployed Head Coach. He sat alone watching his last game as manager, also watching Andy Leaning’s last game as keeper, as City drew 0-0. At the end, he came over to the fans with Darren Davis to applaud their efforts. That was October 14th, Lincoln hadn’t won a league game since August 12th.
The next day Wicks got the call he’d been dreading or expecting. He was out, and John Beck, spotted in the Scarborough stand, was in. Could you say the rest is history? Probably.
John Reames later admitted that sacking Wicks wasn’t the mistake; employing him in the first place was. He also spoke of the manager having ‘unprofessional’ standards, but the truth is nobody will ever truly know what went on, why Wicks was ever appointed, or how he got away with passing two of our best players to other clubs for next to nothing.
Ironically, after he left, he went to do some scouting for Newcastle, where he recommended Darren Huckerby to them. That move funded the John Beck era, so maybe there was a silver lining to the big black Wicks cloud.
Since his spell at Lincoln, Wicks has tried his hand at Coaching and managing in Singapore and Malaysia. There he met up with Tony Cottee with whom he forged a good friendship and laid the foundations for his return to the English coaching ranks. Cottee took over at Barnet in 2000 and he appointed Wicks as his head coach, again.
Wicks lasted just a few months there before Barnet followed Lincoln towards the conference under Wicks’ coaching. The board at Underhill fired them both in March 2001, but couldn’t help stave off the threat of relegation and once again Conference football beckoned for Barnet. Most recently, he’s worked with the QPR hospitality team.
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