Up To The Mark

After an incredible few weeks at Darlington, Nobes explains why the Quakers might emerge the winners after their very own managerial merry-go-round.

New boss Mark Cooper enjoyed success in the Conference with Kettering

Three managers in thirteen days. It's the kind of record which even QPR would do well to match. Mark Cooper's appointment on a one year deal as Darlington boss brought to an end a turbulent last couple of weeks for the North East club.

Dismally relegated from the Football League at the end of last season, the Quakers were bidding to return to the big time at the first time of asking.

However, they were rocked with the sudden resignation of manager Simon Davey - who had only joined the club in March - via an email he sent from the USA.

Not so much jilted at the altar, Davey's departure was the equivalent of being dumped by text.

At the time, the former Barnsley boss cited "personal reasons" as why he left Darlo. Ten days later though, and after claiming he had been offered a role to work in the States, he turned up at League Two Hereford.

Darlington acted swiftly - appointing Davey's long time friend and assistant, Ryan Kidd, to the top job. Less than a fortnight later, and Kidd resigned his post.

Now Copper has been left to pick up the pieces of the chaos that has reigned at a club that has endured a miserable twelve months.

The Quakers came close to going out of business altogether last summer, and then boss Colin Todd was forced to construct a squad with just a couple of weeks left before the season's kick off.

He was swiftly replaced by Steve Staunton - with Darlo struggling at the foot of League Two and staring relegation in the face. It was a fight Staunton never looked like winning, and he was eventually dismissed.

Now, back in the Non Leagues for the first time in 20 years, Darlington will hope Cooper will be able to bring some much needed stability - as well as results on the pitch.

Ironically, even after the tumultuous month at their impressive Arena ground, Cooper's arrival may actually be the golden sky after a long and depressing storm.

Simon Davey's reign as Darlington manager lasted for just 77 days

His record in the Conference is impressive. In his first job, at Tamworth, he managed to keep the Lambs in the division, as well as earning them good revenue from an impressive FA Cup run.

He next turned up at Kettering Town, where he led the Kettles to the Conference North title in his first season. An 8th placed finish on their return to Non League's top flight - as well as another good cup run - cemented his good work.

A strong start to last season eventually saw him poached by Championship side Peterborough. It proved too big a leap, too soon though - a fact the 41-year-old now recognises himself. He was sacked after less than three months.

Now he has a chance to rebuild his career and restore his reputation as one of the most talented young managers in the lower divisions though. His drive and ambition will match that of Darlington's.

He will also, after the way he was treated at Posh, be unlikely to jump ship if the opportunity was to arise. A bit of loyalty can be mutually beneficial to both Darlington and Cooper's futures.

Indeed, so keen was Cooper to get the chance to manage Darlo, he immediately contacted chairman Raj Singh about the vacancy following Kidd's resignation. Fans will hope he will be similarly quick in turning around their side's fortunes.

It could be argued too that, despite a promising end to the previous campaign under Davey, the man at the helm now is better placed to achieve success than either of his two immediate predecessors.

Davey's only managerial experience before joining Darlington was in the Championship, and he has no knowledge of the Conference. Unlike Cooper, too, he has never won a promotion in his managerial career.

Kidd had never been a manager in his own right, and was more suited to being Davey's assistant. It would be no surprise if he eventually turns up at Hereford alongside his friend.

For a club who have had such upheaval over the summer, it could be argued, therefore, that the Quakers have landed on their feet with appointing Cooper.

The only brief tenure they want now is their time in the Conference.

Walking Wounded

As Simon Davey swaps managerial chairs at Darlington for Hereford United, Nobes looks at other managers who have walked out on clubs - only to regret it later.

Simon Davey was in charge at Darlington for just three months

The natives are restless. Just three months into his role as the man to turn around Darlington's fortunes, Simon Davey's decision to resign for "personal reasons" only to pop up at Hereford has angered Quakers fans.

Darlo were a sinking ship when the former Barnsley boss assumed the reins. Although he was unable to save them from relegation to the Conference, the side had showed enough promise to suggest they would be a force next season.

Summer recruitments were already brought in by the Welshman as he set about constructing a team capable of restoring Football League status at the first attempt.

Now, after his resignation, that mantle will fall to long-term assistant Ryan Kidd. Davey, however, has made an even quicker return to League Two with the Hereford job.

It's fair to say many Darlington supporters will wish him absolutely no success whatsoever. His departure has left a bitter taste in the mouth, one they hope will be partially helped if Davey's time at Hereford is an unsuccessful and short one.

The Edgar Street job is a tricky one - trying to please fans used to attractive football and punching above their weight under former boss, and new Shrewsbury manager, Graham Turner.

A season spent languishing in the bottom half saw Turner's successor John Trewick sacked - a sign of how, perhaps unrealistically, high expectations are at the West Midlands club.

Davey will have a tough task on his hands, therefore. He will also hope to avoid the same kind of ignominy that other managers have felt after walking out on a club in an attempt to better their career.

Here are some of the managers who probably wish they had stayed loyal to their clubs.


Phil Parkinson

Parkinson was one of the most promising young managers in the game in 2006. He had just led unfashionable Colchester United to promotion to the Championship for the first time in their history.

However, a month later he resigned his post at Layer Road and made the move to Hull City.

The Tigers, established in the second tier, would offer him greater resources and the impressive KC Stadium the stage for his development as a manager, he thought.

By Christmas, he had been sacked. A poor start to the season, which had seen the Yorkshire outfit struggling towards the foot of the division, saw him axed. Colchester went on to finish the season in 10th, 11 places above Hull.

Parkinson subsequently moved on to Charlton - where he suffered demotion to League One in 2009. He and the Addicks remain there next season.


Ian Holloway

The bubbly Bristolian acted like he had won the jackpot when he landed the manager's job at under performing Leicester City in 2007.

He had left Plymouth Argyle - where he had impressed on a budget - in acrimonious circumstances to make the move to the East Midlands. He shouldn't have bothered.

Despite spending good money, the Foxes slid to an agonising final day relegation to League One and Holloway was promptly fired. Plymouth finished in the top half.

It was to prove only a minor blip, however. Holloway returned to football and masterminded Blackpool's rise to the Premier League last season - as Plymouth slid out of the top two tiers.



Brendan Rodgers

For a long time, the Northern Irishman worked in the shadows - as a youth team coach at Reading and then under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea.

However, he took on his first managerial job at struggling Watford in 2008 - playing an attractive style of football which led the Hornets to a comfortable mid-table finish in the Championship.

He turned his back on the club who had given him his break as a manager though, and left to join old club Reading. His reign with the Royals was short-lived and unsuccessful as they toiled towards the bottom.

He was sacked in December and has yet to find re-employment. Both Watford and Reading finished in mid-table in last term's Championship.


Steve Cotterill

Having worked his way up the pyramid as he performed miracles at Cheltenham Town, Cotterill was given his big break in management at Stoke City in 2002.

The Potters had been freshly elevated into the Championship and had a solid start to their campaign under Cotterill.

However, when the call came from new Sunderland boss Howard Wilkinson to join him as assistant in the top flight, Cotterill jumped ship and left Stoke in the lurch after just 13 games.

Wilkinson and Cotterill endured a miserable spell on Wearside though, and were sacked before the season's end. Stoke, under new boss Tony Pulis, survived in the second tier.

After subsequent spells at Burnley and Notts County, Cotterill now finds himself at Portsmouth in the Championship - below both top-flight Stoke and Pulis.


Iain Dowie

Crystal Palace's promotion to the top flight in 2005 had been the stuff of fairy tales. New boss Iain Dowie had turned around the club's fortunes in the space of a few months before leading them to play-off success.

He almost kept them in the Premier League, and then failed to take them back at the first attempt as they lost out in the play-offs. Dowie resigned - before controversially taking up the post at top flight club, and Palace's bitter rivals, Charlton.

It was a poor decision. The Addicks badly struggled under Dowie, who was soon fired. He has had short and unsuccessful subsequent spells at Coventry, QPR, Hull, and as assistant to Alan Shearer at Newcastle.

Still out of the game now, his mismanagement had a large part to play in Charlton's rapid fall down the ladder to where they now find themselves in League One.


Paul Ince

The former England international began his managerial career at lowly League Two side Macclesfield before making the leap to fellow basement boys Milton Keynes Dons in 2007.

He led the Dons to League Two title and JPT success in his first season - earning him the call to take over the vacant manager's job at top flight club club Blackburn Rovers.

Without any regard to how briefly he had been a manager, Ince decided to make the step-up. A promising start gave way to a dreadful run which left the Lancashire club in a relegation battle.

Ince was given his marching orders before Christmas and successor Sam Allardyce managed to keep the Ewood Park outfit up.

A humiliating return to Milton Keynes last summer was the next move for Ince but a disappointing season saw him hand in his resignation. He is currently without a job.


Martin Allen

The man known as 'Mad Dog' began his managerial reign at Barnet before enjoying a hugely profitable spell at Brentford.

On leaving Griffin Park he took on the challenge of helping MK Dons win promotion from League Two in 2006.

Despite having one of the largest budgets outside the Championship, Allen produced a team playing poor football that only managed to finish in the play-offs - where they lost out to Shrewsbury.

Surprisingly, he was then offered the chance to manage at second tier club Leicester. However, just four games into the new season, he departed after a breakdown in relations between himself and chairman Milan Mandaric.

He next turned up for a turbulent and unsuccessful stint at League One Cheltenham - where the Gloucestershire club suffered relegation under his management.

Sacked last season from Whaddon Road, he remains out of the managerial game. Milton Keynes, after enjoying success after his departure, have consolidated in League One.


Davey has been warned.

The Stagnation Game

As things stand, League Two could have a very different look about it next season.

That's because its two longest-serving members - Rochdale and Darlington - are both on course to be playing in different divisions next term.

So, with that in mind, added to Preston being on course for an 11th consecutive year in the Championship next season, Lakes discusses supporting a stagnated side, and the effect it can have on a club.

We came, we saw, we conquered. It's a mantra familiar to all football fans who have watched their teams win automatic promotion to the next league up. The world of football is alight, the game has been beaten. Checkmate.

Some sides get promoted and realise the game hasn't been won at all. The game is just beginning and the real battle is against relegation. Some sides continue their impetuous drives and win promotion again.

Fans are treated to exciting fooball, whether going up or down, and the prospect of a thrilling season.

Then there's a third category: the purgatorial teams who sit somewhere in the ether between promotion and relegation.

They may flirt with both prospects, but ultimately have found their level. Too much depth to go down, not enough quality to go up.

Teams like Rochdale, Darlington, Oldham, Macclesfield, Lincoln, Burnley - until last season - and my very own Preston North End fit into this category.

For fans of these teams, it all comes down to buying a ticket for the league lottery and hoping for the best every season.

Without external investment they won't have the funds to go up and, with a squad of established players at their level, they probably won't go down.

So what's wrong with that? Surely when Preston were promoted to the Championship, that was the aim? To establish yourself at a higher level.

But priorities change so frequently in football. Fans are as greedy as chairmen and get stroppy if their side isn't pushing for the next level, even if they are not ready for it.

Preston fans have seen their side playing in the same division for the last 10 years

And herein lies a big problem. Fans. While chairmen, directors, and players may be happy to see their income stay at a predictable, safe level, fans will always be pushing for more money to be spent.

They're more fickle these days, driven on by the incessant TV footage of Premier League bigwig footballers masterbating into silver cups. Success is everything, and time waits for no man.

In some ways, being established helps.

For Preston, the longest serving members of the highest tier outside the Premier League, it offers the opportunity for seniority in the game and implies an established club, which up and coming players can rely on for a safe season and first team football.

Managers and players can both treat it as a stepping stone at which to achieve greatness before moving on, and in a way that's what Preston have always done.

But for every manager that moves on, the dream of shaking John Terry's hand or stroking Peter Crouch off in the bath at full time becomes more distant.

The team stagnates, falls backwards again in an inexorable cycle of peaks and troughs. Normality resumes, and the club's level becomes quickly apparent again.

For me, it's fine. We get to play good sides in a competitve league. Why do we need more than that?

Mind you, tossing off Peter Crouch in the bath does sound good.

Staunton takes up Darlo challenge

Bottom of the Football League, no league win all season, and eights point adrift of safety - a baptism of fire almost seems too kind an expression for the challenge facing new Darlington boss Steve Staunton.

The 40-year-old endured a torrid spell in his first managerial role as coach of his native Republic of Ireland team.

Lasting less than two years, Staunton was sacked after presiding over a poor qualifying campaign where they lost 5-2 to Cyprus and failed to qualify for the 2008 European Championships.

A spell as assistant to Gary McAllister at Leeds followed, but the former Liverpool player has never managed a club side himself.

Taking the reins at the Northern Echo Arena appears to be a risk for both club and man alike.

There's simply no time for learning on the job at Darlington - the Quakers need points and fast.

Carlisle, relegated from the Football League in 2004, were famously adrift after the first half of the season before Paul Simpson's side almost staged the most miraculous of recoveries.

Darlo, with just two draws from their first 11 games, already have fewer points and are further from safety than the Cumbrians were at the same stage when they finally lost their status in the 92.

Relegation would follow 20 years on from their first demotion from the Football League. Then, under Brian Little, the North East club bounced back at the first attempt before winning a second successive promotion as Champions the following season.

A immediate return to the basement division followed in 1992, and Darlington have been in League Two ever since, appearing in the play-offs on three occasions, twice in the final.

Staunton had an unsuccessful reign as Republic of Ireland manager

Now just remaining in the division would be an achievement after a turbulent summer which saw the club come close to going out of business altogether. In the end, a buyout by former vice-chairman Raj Singh saved the Quakers.

However, with almost the entire squad having left, new manager Colin Todd was forced to throw together a team in the final few weeks before the season's kick-off.

Unsurprisingly, the side began slowly, and Todd was shown the exit door after last month's 1-1 draw at fellow strugglers Grimsby Town.

After dispensing with the services of the experienced former Bolton, Bradford, and Derby boss, Singh has now decided to put his faith in the youth and untried talent of Staunton.

Singh is playing with high stakes though. Despite an additional promotion place from when they last played in the Conference, returning to the Football League after relegation remains a difficult feat.

Luton Town, only relegated last season due to their huge points deduction, are currently only toiling to compete for the play-offs as they discover that Non-League's premier division is not the walkover they thought it would be.

Even leaders Oxford, currently six points clear at the summit, are in their fourth season trying to escape having been demoted themselves in 2006. Darlington should be under no illusions how hard it would be to return quickly.

Which makes preserving their position in League Two and avoiding the drop even more important.

Singh has promised his new manager will have resources to spend to help strengthen an ailing squad, he must spend what he has wisely. However, failure to succeed and relegation will be Darlo's biggest price to pay.

Nobes.

Big Match Review- Darlington 0 Bournemouth 2

League Two

Darlington 0-2 Bournemouth

Saturday September 19, Northern Echo Arena (Att: 1,999)

Bournemouth made it four wins on the bounce as two goals from Brett Pitman saw off Darlington and kept the Cherries riding high at the top of League Two.

The away side started brightly, with veteran striker Steve Fletcher scuffing a shot at Darlo keeper Russell Hoult when well placed. It was little surprise then when Pittman did put them ahead just a quarter of an hour in.

A long throw into the box was flicked onto the Cherries forward, whose acrobatic overhead kick beat Hoult and found the bottom corner of the Quakers net.

Darlo hit back, former Carlisle striker Kevin Gall shooting over after a strong run, and then a fizzing long-range effort from Jamie Devitt forced visiting keeper Shwan Jalal to parry and collect at the second attempt.

Darlington manager Colin Todd brought on his assistant Dean Windass in the second period, and it was the former Premier League man who wasted the home side's best effort to equalise. A cross from the right from pulled back for Windass, who failed to connect from just a few yards out.

Then Devitt was foiled from close range by Jalal again, and Darlo were made to pay for their profligacy. Anton Robinson's charge forward was halted illegally by defender Tony Kane, and the referee awarded a penalty.

Pittman stepped up to send Hoult the wrong way and collect his and Bournemouth's second of the match to keep Eddie Howe's team on top of the table, and Darlington rooted to the bottom.

Big Match Preview

League Two

Darlington vs. Bournemouth

Saturday September 19, 15:00, Northern Echo Arena

Top play bottom in League Two this week as Eddie Howe's high-flying Bournemouth side make the long trip up north to face beleaguered Darlington.

Over 300 miles separate the two towns at opposite ends of the country, and the two clubs couldn't be further apart in the league. Darlo have claimed just a single point from their first seven games, whilst the visitors have already registered six wins to sit at the summit.

Both are united in their financial problems though. The Cherries are still under a transfer embargo, and have been unable to bring in any players to Dean Court after last season's battle against the drop.

Colin Todd's side meanwhile only came out of administration on the eve of the new campaign. A turbulent summer in the North East saw the club come perilously close to going out of business altogether, and Todd having to re-build almost an entire new squad.

Unsurprisingly, it's been a slow start to the campaign for the Quakers, with just a 1-1 draw at home to Cheltenham to show for their efforts so far this term. Last time out they went down 2-1 at financially-striken Accrington, one of four away games they've lost this season.

The squad boasts good experience at this level though, targetman Lee Thorpe has been around the basement division for over a decade, and striker partner Kevin Gall won promotion from this level with Yeovil.

Todd's assistant is Dean Windass, who he worked with when the pair were at Bradford, and the veteran striker has also found his way onto the pitch this season, although he is yet to score.

Perhaps most important for Todd though was holding onto key central defensive duo Steve Foster and Ian Miller, the only two players who remain from last season. On their day, there are few better partnerships in the division.

At opposite ends of the table, but Colin Todd and Eddie Howe
both know about managing with financial restrictions

Struggling at the wrong end with financial problems is something the Darlo manager's opposite number on Saturday can well sympathise with.

Howe became the youngest manager in the Football League when he took over on the South Coast in the New Year. The club appeared to be losing their fight to stay in the Football League having begun the campaign on -17 points due to their financial situation.

However, a revival under the new manager saw Bournemouth pull clear of the drop zone and survive, and they've continued this season where they left off last term.

An emphatic 3-0 win at Bury on the opening day was followed by wins over fellow early pace-setters Rotherham and Crewe. A 2-0 loss at Northampton is the only blot on their record so far, with 18 points gathered from the first seven matches.

Forward Brett Pitman, with three goals to his name, has already been a key figure again for the Cherries, and veteran striker Steve Fletcher continues to be a big presence up-front.

Experienced campaigner Sammy Igoe also chipped in with two goals in last weekend's 3-1 win over Lincoln, and the side has a good mix of experience and young talent like midfielder Danny Hollands.

It promises to be a difficult test for Darlington therefore. Bournemouth are a side brimming with confidence and goals, and they should rack up another three points at the Northern Echo Arena this weekend.

Nobes' Prediction: Darlington 0 Bournemouth 2