Finally, a Lincoln City manager has got the credit he deserves for a stellar month.
After being denied at least twice when he should have had it, Michael Skubala has been awarded the Manager of the Month. The beauty of that is not only the recognition, but also the fact we got the curse out of the way early!
September was a cracking month for City, with three league wins (Burton, Luton and Peterborough), and a draw against Wigan. It’s likley cup games are not factored in, but the showing against Chelsea, plus two 3-0 strolls in the EFL Trophy, won’t have hurt Michael’s chances of winning.
Typically, for the understated character that he is, he made sure to involve his coaching team in both his award photo and his comments.
“It’s nice to pick up this accolade,” he said. “But I’m just at the front of what is a very good team of players and staff.
“We’ve got a good balanced squad, having added some experience to the group this summer, and a really hard-working staff – both the technical coaches and everyone who supports us at the club from the groundstaff to our chef.
“They work really hard every day which led to us getting the results we did. It’s only a snippet of our season and our challenge is to go again and keep doing the best we can each month.”
Danny Wilson chairs the Sky Bet Championship Manager of the Month judging panel.
He said: “10 points and 4 unbeaten games lifted Lincoln into a healthy 3rd place endorsing Michael’s reputation as a very talented young coach.”
Sky Sports’ EFL pundit Don Goodman said: “There is no doubting that Micheal Skubala’s Lincoln City were the inform team in September. They picked up 10 points from four unbeaten games and ran World Champions Chelsea very close in the League Cup.
Michael is the first Imps manager to win the award at League One level, and the first to win any Manager of the Month award since Danny Cowley in August 2018. Cowley picked up the award twice, while Michael Appleton received four nominations, without winning at all.
In a month where Michael passed 100 games in the dugout, this will be a nice bit of recognition that we’re heading in the right direction.
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