Lincoln City head coaches Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw have been jointly nominated for September’s Sky Bet Championship Manager of the Month award.
The duo are joined on the shortlist by Swansea City’s Vitor Matos, Stoke City’s Mark Robins and West Ham United’s Nuno Espírito Santo, with the winner announced on Friday 9 October.
Chris and Tom guided us to eight points from five league matches during September, with the away victories at Preston North End and Bristol City among the highlights. Their nomination recognises the work of our shared management team as City adjust to life in the Championship following last season’s promotion.
The nomination highlights the continuity within the side and the way the pair have worked together to maintain our progress. Getting results at places such as Deepdale and Ashton Gate is an encouraging sign, and being included on this shortlist is recognition of what they have achieved.
Robins has a strong case after overseeing a considerable turnaround at Stoke. Having started the season with three defeats and lost winger Sorba Thomas, the Potters went unbeaten through September, taking 13 points from five matches.
Nuno matched that points return with West Ham, whose promotion ambitions come with considerable pressure at the London Stadium. His side also remained unbeaten across their five September fixtures, scoring an impressive 18 goals as they responded to a slow start in August.
Matos completes the shortlist after taking Swansea to the top of the Championship for the first time since 2019. His side collected ten points from five matches, with five different players contributing to their eight goals during the month. They also beat us, but Brian Barry-Murphy did win a Manager of the Month over Michael Skubala after losing against us, so you never know!
Looking at those returns, I would expect Robins and Nuno to be the front runners, with Chris and Tom probably outsiders. Thirteen points from a possible 15 is difficult to argue with, while Stoke’s revival and West Ham’s goalscoring give both managers a compelling case. Fingers crossed for a Nuno win, and a Manager of the Month curse at the Bank on Wednesday.
There is no City player on the Player of the Month shortlist, which features Blackburn Rovers’ Oladapo Afolayan, Bristol City’s Rio Cardines, Millwall’s Lyndon Dykes and West Ham’s Konstantinos Mavropanos. Afolayan contributed three goals and an assist, while Cardines provided assists in four of his five September appearances. Dykes registered four goals and an assist, with centre-back Mavropanos also scoring four times and helping West Ham keep two clean sheets.
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