Former Lincoln City player Alan Sheehan has been linked with the vacant manager’s role at League One side Wigan Athletic.
Wigan, beaten 1-0 by the Imps last weekend, finally pulled the plug on Ryan Lowe’s reign after a disastrous 6-1 defeat by Peterborough United at the weekend. Lowe lasted 11 months, and the timing could work in City’s favour, with Stockport up next in a couple of weeks’ time.
Richie Wellens and Chris Coleman have been linked with the role, but Sheehan appears to be the current favourite, with our colleagues at The Deck suggesting he is top of the wish list at the Brick Community Stadium. Sheehan took his first steps into management at Swansea City following the sacking of Michael Duff, acting as caretaker. When Luke Williams came in, he stepped aside, but he took full control when the now-Peterborough boss was also sacked.
At one point, he led Swansea to five consecutive wins, which was the club’s longest league winning run since 2007, but form dropped off and he was sacked in November, having won 13 of his 32 Championship matches. His side were 18th when he was fired, but under the new boss Vítor Matos, they have climbed to 15th, their highest position in three months.
Few Imps will remember Sheehan for his time at the club, as he appeared just once. That game was in March 2020, days before the country was locked down because of COVID. He came in to add a little backbone to our young squad after a huge clear-out in the winter, but his only memorable contribution was giving away a penalty, which Josh Vickers saved in our 3-2 win. The week after, we were due to travel to Tranmere Rovers for a huge six-pointer, but Boris shut the country down and we stayed up.
Sheehan was released and ended up at Northampton Town, an inauspicious end to a playing career that saw him appear for Leicester City, Leeds United, Notts County and Luton Town, to name but a few. He was sent off for the Hatters against the Imps in our last defeat at Kenilworth Road, back in January 2018.
He could now be poised to take over a League One rival, but having played Wigan twice, it is of little consequence to us. They are one of the sides I am now happy to win every game, as they will be taking points from clubs around us.