Lincoln City go into the new season with dual head coaches, Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw, which some might find experimental.
We’ve never been afraid to innovate: we were one of the first clubs to have a chairman as manager, and while that wasn’t a raging success, it showed an ability to think outside the box.
Chris and Tom’s dynamic doesn’t challenge how football clubs are run now; it probably highlights it. No single club is all about the manager from the top down, and any that claim to be are not being truthful.
When Shaun Pearson left Grimsby recently, the pain was felt by supporters. In the past, who mourned the departure of Frank Lord or Wally Downes? Assistants were ancillary, but in today’s complex set-up, having one man labelled as boss might put a single head on the chopping block, but it doesn’t entirely reflect how clubs are structured.
That’s one view. The other view, expressed by Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony, is different.
“Hate it,” he said, when quizzed on talkSPORT recently.
“For me personally, by the way, not a slight on Lincoln. Brilliantly well-run club. Liam does a great job there running it as CEO.
“What they did last year was, it felt like they hadn’t lost all season. They’ve just lost their best player, but I’m sure they’ll be busy at the end of the window.
“I’m not mad on two chiefs. It’s too much. There always needs to be, there can only be one, in my opinion.”
MacAnthony sees the Imps’ setup as problematic, citing a lack of dual coaches in the top two divisions over the last few seasons.
“Whether or not, like at my club, you’ve got the CEO who runs the non-football side, then you’ve obviously got the director of football over here with the manager, I just think when you’ve got split like that, it becomes problematic.
“Has it worked in the Championship and the Premier League? What’s the last joint management team? I know lower down, like Salford had one years ago. They had a pair.”
It was pointed out that we had Danny and Nicky Cowley, and that dynamic was interesting. They were labelled manager and assistant manager, but it was very much a duo behind the scenes, and while Nicky didn’t appear on camera as much, there is more to management than interviews.
“Danny and Nicky, I know them,” added MacAnthony. “Danny was always the one. Nicky’s obviously very good at what he does, but Danny’s the one.”
MacAnthony, a man who might be a bit of a panto villain because of his Posh connections, is actually an interesting guy with ideas not entirely dissimilar to ours in terms of wage structure and approach. If we are to struggle this season, he believes it will be those principles, and not Chris and Tom, that are the issue.
“I don’t think it’ll be because of the two managers,” he said when asked if we’d struggle.
“That’s just their unique way of doing it. Like when Peterborough were in the Championship, Lincoln are going to be favourites to go down. So now they’ve got to buck that trend, and they’re probably going to have to spend.
“It’s really, really difficult. It’s the toughest league in the world, never mind the Premier League. So they’re going to have to basically make a decision: do we change our wage structure? Do we spend some money on transfers?”
“I know they, I think, made a couple of signings, and one was probably a record signing they made, but it’s really tough because in the back of your mind, you’re thinking, ‘If this goes wrong, I’m back in League One, and I could be carrying a massive wage bill that puts us in even bigger trouble in League One.’
“So I empathise. I’m envious, but I empathise.”
I know the headline across media for this story will be his comments about hating the dual coaches setup, but actually, despite being outspoken, MacAnthony offers a fair assessment of our predicament.
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