With every team in the league now having ten or less games this season, the majority having eight, the League Two Manager of the Season conversation is really starting to hot up.
It’s a wide open conversation as well, and although there are a few obvious candidates, there are a number of more left-field names who deserve to be included on the list. With the title, automatic promotion and play-off races all yet to be finalised, this list could well change in the coming weeks and it likely that some surprises will still be thrown up.
The award is usually given to a promotion-winning manager and that may well be the case again this season. Last season saw Leyton Orient’s Richie Wellens scoop the accolade as he led the club to the League Two title. The two other names on the shortlist which was published still with five games to go in the season were Stevenage’s Steve Evans who’d finish second and Carlisle United’s Paul Simpson, who’d eventually take the Cumbrians up via the play-offs.
There are however a couple of names this season which could spring a surprise. Those said names may not achieve promotion this year but what they have done with their respective clubs, be that surpassing pre-season expectations or operating on a shoe-string budget should indeed by acknowledged.
Let’s take a look at the leading contenders to win the League Two Manager of the Season award going into the final stretch of the 2023/24 season.
Leading contenders
Nigel Clough – Mansfield Town
It’s a rather obvious first name on the list given their current status in the League Two table and Nigel Clough rightly deserves to be at the forefront of the conversation. Since taking charge of the club in 2020, Mansfield have always been in and around the pointy end of the table, losing in the 2021/22 Play-Off Final to Port Vale before missing out on the play-offs by a singular point last season.
This season is easily Mansfield’s best chance to achieve promotion to League One and after spending the last 10 years in the fourth tier, they’ll be hoping that this season is their year. Clough’s attacking tactics this season has seen his side become the highest scorers in the league at the time of writing with an astonishing 78 goals in 38 games.
Not only are they the strongest in terms of attacking output, the Stags’ defensive numbers are also the best in the league, conceding only 36 times. Even if they were to miss out on the title this year, Clough would still be potentially the likeliest option based on their style of play.
Mike Williamson – MK Dons
The job that Williamson has done since taking charge of the Dons is nothing short of phenomenal. Since taking over in mid-October, the former Newcastle defender has turned MK Dons from a struggling side to genuine title contenders. Having taken 51 points from his 26 league games in charge so far, it’s no surprise to see Williamson high up on the list.
It is evident that there have been drastic improvements since he took the helm, and had he been in charge for the whole season, based off of his PPG as manager this season, then the Dons would top the League Two table currently. He may well take them back to the third tier at the first opportunity and based off of the position in which he took over the club, it will be some achievement.
Perhaps the only hinderance to his chances is the fact that he has not been with the club the whole season. That does however only further emphasise the incredible job that he has done so far.
In with a chance
Scott Lindsey – Crawley Town
There’s good reasoning for Lindsey being on this list and although his side may not achieve promotion this season, his name deserves to be at the forefront of the conversation. It’s fair to say that the Red Devils have surpassed all pre-season expectations and only a singular point off of the play-offs currently with games in hand, could well still achieve promotion this season.
More or less every single pundit and news outlet wrote Crawley off at the start of the season. At The Real EFL, a combined writer’s prediction table had the Sussex side finish rock bottom. It’s fair to say that Lindsey has proven everyone wrong and has built and impressive team in the process. All sort of experience was lost in the summer transfer window and that was replaced by a fair few players from non-league or with little EFL experience.
The recruitment has been spot on though and Crawley are battling in every game this season, they’re by no means the most exciting side to watch, but their strong defence and opportunistic attack has seen them pick up plenty of points lately. It’s a left-field shout, but Lindsey should be near the top of the list.
Lee Bell – Crewe Alexandra
Bell has perhaps not got enough credit for the job that he has done this season, and his side are still in with a chance of automatic promotion. Their form has taken a bit of a knock recently, but they sit just three points off of the automatic places still.
With one of the lower budgets in the top seven, the achievements this season are made only more impressive, and a lot of that can be attributed to Bell’s tactics. The Railwaymen sit on 64 points currently, eclipsing their tally of 58 last season already and still have eight games to go this year. Significantly, this is Bell’s first managerial job but he doesn’t look as if he is a manager that lacks experience compared to some of the other names on the list.
Since taking over permanently in the December of 2022, the club have come on leaps and bounds. They may just miss out on automatic promotion this season but teams will fear playing them in the play-offs despite maybe not having the depth of some of the teams around them.
Pete Wild – Barrow
Wild’s name was at the forefront of the conversation for much of the first half of the season however his achievements may have been somewhat forgotten about in the last few months. It’s no secret that Barrow are not as strong as they were in the first half of the season, but have undergone a bit of a resurgence recently.
With a game in hand on all of the teams above them bar Stockport, and two on MK Dons, the Bluebirds do still have an outside chance of automatic promotion to the third tier. Wild has helped to really put Barrow’s name on the map. They’d broken into the EFL a couple of seasons prior to him joining in the summer of 2022 but his arrival has coincided with the growth and improvements to become a top-half mainstay.
They look sure to improve on their ninth placed finish from last season and the 39-year-old continues to impress with his capabilities to outperform the odds. It would be some achievement if they were to get promoted this season and it’s hard to see Barrow being this high in the table without Wild.
Outside shouts
Nigel Adkins – Tranmere Rovers
It is highly unlikely that Adkins would win the award, especially as Tranmere have no say in the promotion fight. However the job that the experienced manager has done since taking the helm on a permanent basis in November has been quite frankly phenomenal.
Adkins has transformed Tranmere into arguably one of the best teams in the league and has guaranteed their fourth tier status with plenty of games in hand, something that many fans would’ve thought was unlikely after the first few months of the season.
In their last seven games. Rovers have beaten each of the top three teams in the league ; Mansfield, Stockport and Wrexham, and are a serious threat to anyone. Adkins is potentially the hire of the season, him and Williamson can fight for that, but given the EFL’s tendency to favour managers who have their sides at the top of the table, he probably won’t be on the final shortlist.
Tranmere certainly have something to build on though and next season with Adkins and giving him the full summer transfer window, will be very intriguing.
Johnnie Jackson – AFC Wimbledon
Jackson is very much an outside shout and potentially has even less of a chance than that of Adkins. Wimbledon are however still in the hunt for the play-offs and Jackson deserve credit for that.
Especially after losing talisman Ali Al-Hamadi in the January window, there would’ve no doubt been some worries in the fanbase for the second half of the season. There has been a slight regression since the Iraqi international left but Jackson has continued to do a solid job on the whole.
Given Wimbledon’s budget and pre-season expectations it’s rather unlikely, especially with Scott Lindsey and Crawley Town right behind them in the table.
Honourable mentions
Phil Parkinson – Wrexham & Dave Challinor – Stockport County
Parkinson and Challinor both also deserve to be in the conversation and it’s probably a surprise that they’re this far down, but there is reasoning. They’ve been grouped together as a result, as both find themselves in similar positions.
Yes, they’ve both done great jobs this season to have their side in the top three but are their achievements as impressive as some of the other managers in the top seven?
Wrexham’s massive budget is well documented and Stockport themselves have one of the higher budgets in the league. Both were expected to challenge for the title this season and they’re doing just that, but it’s hard to say that they standout compared to the likes of Clough and Williamson.
One of, if not both, could well be on the EFL’s final shortlist but it seems that neither will scoop the accolade this season bar a mightily impressive run-in.
Who will scoop the award?
At this point in the season, it seems as if Nigel Clough is the leading contender and rightly so given where Mansfield sit. Out of the top three currently, he the one who truly stands out and has done a great job this year with what can be perceived as lesser resources than that of Wrexham and Stockport.
The other two names on the final shortlist could well be Mike Williamson and Scott Lindsey. MK Dons’ transformation under their new man should not be overlooked and since his arrival they have been one of, if not ‘the’, best team in League Two.
Lindsey equally deserves his plaudits for the position that Crawley are in and he’d be a deserved winner of the award if his side were to make the play-offs this season.
There is still time for everything to change and football is obviously unpredictable, but Clough looks the man to take the accolade this season.
Senior Editor
