After receiving such affinity as a player, it was only natural that Gareth Ainsworth would be linked to Lincoln City in a managerial capacity.
Approaches From The Imps
Firstly, in September 2009, Peter Jackson was dismissed after a poor start to the campaign. In the search for a new manager, vice-chairman Bob Dorrian told BBC Radio Lincolnshire that the Imps were “looking for somebody who is young and up-and-coming with good coaching skills.”
Then after the legendary Cowley brothers, who had won two promotions to League One, reached the Quarter-Finals of the FA Cup and won the EFL Trophy, had left for Huddersfield Town, his name was linked once more. He revealed this exclusively to The Real EFL:
“With respect to everyone involved, it was very close, probably the second time. I’m not sure 2009 would have been a great time for me to manage, I was wet behind the ears there after the QPR caretaker stuff, and it was probably way too early for me.
“But definitely over the years, I’ve spoken to people at Lincoln and I don’t think there’s a secret about that. For one thing or another, I think the chance to stay at Wycombe and do what we did there was a real carrot to stay. It was like I could feel the success that was coming there and it was probably the right decision to stay at Wycombe. But it’s a club where maybe it’s great to remember me being a decent player and not to ruin anything by being a crap manager!”
Return To QPR
Ainsworth though remained at Wycombe, a justified decision as he took the Chairboys into the Championship for the first time in their history. After being huge favourites for immediate relegation, he took the fight for survival down to the final day, even if the odds were miniscule to stay up.
After taking the club to Wembley in the Play-Offs, another chance to depart Adams Park was taken this time. A return to QPR, where he spent the longest time of his playing career, was just too good to turn down, and he would do it all again.
“No, absolutely not, I would do the same again (leaving Wycombe). Some of the decisions at the start, maybe I could have got better in what I wanted to do, but I have absolutely no regrets.
“We kept them in the championship when they were in free fall, going to Burnley and beating them 2-1, the only team that season to have won at Turf Moor. There are some real highlights at QPR but people forget that because all they do is look at a club legend who has gone there, and it hasn’t worked out.
“It actually did work out in a crazy way because I became a better manager for it. I really enjoyed my time back there because the club is what I’m known for playing-wise. No regrets. I think people have a different look on life than me and I always take the positives out of everything, and there were a lot of positives there.”
