Former Premier League manager, 41, takes charge at Lincoln City as he looks to lead Imps to Championship
FORMER Leeds interim boss Michael Skubala has been appointed boss of League One strugglers Lincoln City.
The highly-rated tactician was working as a coach at Elland Road before the Red Imps pounced.
He previously spent two games as Leeds’ caretaker manager following the dismissal of Jesse March last season.
And Skubala will now be hoping to lead new side Lincoln to the Championship, starting with a win at Stevenage on Saturday.
The 41-year-old replaces Mark Kennedy, who was sacked by Lincoln a month ago.
Interim Imps boss Tom Shaw has also been confirmed as Skubala’s new assistant.
Skubala said: “It feels great to be here, it has been a really warm welcome and I’m looking forward to getting going.
“I’ve been here for a couple of games in the past few weeks and I’ve seen how important the fans are for the young players and how they can push the team.
“I’m really excited to work hard with the players every day, to meet the fans and be part of Lincoln City.
“I feel something here that I felt when I moved to Leeds, which is how important the supporters can be to the club.”
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Chairman Clive Nates added: “We have been tracking Michael for some time as he is one of the most exciting young coaches in the game right now, and had a robust recruitment process to ensure he was the right person for us at this time.
“We had a list of 15 coaches we thought would be a good fit, and Michael impressed as we went through the interviews.
“The warm wishes from Leeds United show how respected and popular he was there. We see this as a progressive appointment – Michael shares our ethos on player development, style of play and ambition.
“He has a clear vision for how he implements this and a track record of developing talented young technically-talented players such as Levi Colwill of Chelsea and Rico Lewis of Manchester City while he was in the England structure, as well as Archie Gray and Crysensio Summerville at Leeds United U21s.
“We’re also really pleased that Tom Shaw will stay as a key part of the coaching structure as assistant head coach.
“He is a highly capable coach, and both we and Michael believe he will bring strong continuity and support to the new head coach.”