Scunthorpe United have confirmed the appointment of former Shrewsbury and Ipswich boss Paul Hurst as their new manager.
The club also confirmed that Chris Doig will join Hurst at Glanford Park as his assistant and that temporary boss and club legend Andy Dawson will remain at the club in a coaching capacity.
The club has struggled to find a successful manager since they surprisingly sacked Graham Alexander when fifth in League One towards the end of the 2017/2018 season, with both Nick Daws and Stuart McCall lasting less than a year in the job.
A disastrous season just ended in final day relegation to League Two after a controversial defeat at Plymouth Argyle. Caretaker boss Dawson failed to win a game after McCall’s dismissal in March.
Scunthorpe director Chris Swann soon posted a warm welcome to Hurst and Doig on his Twitter account provoking some telling reactions from the Iron fans.
Swann’s father Peter is the owner and chairman of the club, and while supporters were generally delighted with the appointment, they were also keen to stress to Swann that the board should leave Hurst to get on with the job. Many also pressed home the need for stability after what has been a managerial merry-go-round at Glanford Park over the last few years.
Judging by the responses, it appears the key to the success of this appointment may well be Hurst’s ability to manage his relationship with the Swann family as much as his ability to get results on the pitch.
Here is a selection of the responses to the tweet.
https://twitter.com/derbyirons/status/1127969705338126336
https://twitter.com/_mattyholt/status/1127968098382942211
https://twitter.com/willshorty87/status/1127984834704478209
https://twitter.com/mickyiron/status/1127995578485358592
https://twitter.com/iRunSometimes/status/1127967780412776454
https://twitter.com/markgravill14/status/1127980162589569024
https://twitter.com/thumpermaxie/status/1127992008381849601
https://twitter.com/RossGibson1992/status/1127968192049991681
