Former Southampton coach Chris Cohen has returned to League One side Lincoln City on a permanent basis, having initially been part of Tom Shaw’s backroom staff earlier in the campaign.
Cohen, who spent 11 years at Nottingham Forest, was the assistant manager to Nathan Jones during the Hatters’ successful period under the Welshman where the club came close to earning promotion to the Premier League at the end of the 2021/22 campaign, losing out to Huddersfield Town in the playoff semi-final.
The ex-West Ham United defender then followed Jones to Southampton, earning experience as a coach in the top-flight in the previous campaign. However, the duo’s time at the St. Mary’s Stadium was short-lived as Jones was relieved of his duties after merely 14 games in charge.
Cohen’s next job came at the LNER Stadium when he joined Tom Shaw on an interim basis following the departure of former head coach Mark Kennedy who was sacked towards the end of October. Shaw was in charge for seven games before current boss Michael Skubala took over, having left Leeds United.
Nevertheless, Cohen is now back at Sincil Bank and will operate as the assistant head coach to Skubala, working alongside Shaw in the dugout as the Imps attempt to claw back the 11-point gap between themselves and the final playoff place.
Speaking on the club’s official website, Lincoln’s Director of Football Jez George revealed how happy he was to have the 36-year-old back at the club:
“We are absolutely delighted to welcome Chris back to Lincoln City, this time in a permanent and formal role. Chris quickly built a strong relationship with the club, staff and players during Tom’s period as interim head coach and earned the respect of everyone with his knowledge, drive, character and desire to improve players.
“Quite simply, he is a real coup for the club and we are really excited at the coaching team we have now assembled,” he continued.
“When Michael was appointed we agreed that we should take our time in finding the right person, and all along we knew that was Chris. His last role was in the Premier League, so when trying to bring someone to the club of his calibre, we also needed to give him time before committing to Lincoln City.
“Chris will work on the grass every day with Michael and Tom to develop our players individually as well as contributing to the collective task of winning matches in League One. We can’t wait for Chris to get started.”
Writer’s View
Jez George is right in his assessment when he described the appointment of Cohen as a “real coup”. There are now two coaches in the dugout who have worked at the highest level which can only be beneficial for a side battling it out in League One.
Furthermore, Cohen was quite successful during his time with Jones. While it didn’t go so well with Southampton, Luton Town certainly overperformed their means and Cohen will have played a big part in that success.
Deputy Head of Writing
