With the airwaves silent since Liam Sweeting briefed fans and the media last week regarding the search for a replacement gaffer, things are starting to hot up and it looks like we are on the verge of a deal with Liam Manning who recently departed from second tier Belgian outfit Lommel SK, looking very much like he is on his way to us.
35-year-old Manning came out of nowhere to head the betting to become the new MK Dons Manager, where in original lists Manning was nowhere to be seen. Long term favourite Jody Morris has disappeared from the picture, as have a few others that have flirted with becoming favourite. Manning now stands as short as 1/10 favourite with some bookmakers, others have simply closed their books and are not offering odds considering it to be a Don Deal.
A few days ago, there was talk of a couple of Scottish managers being in the frame along with the Shamrock Rovers manager, as has talk about Spaniard Miquel Llera the former Dons centre back from the 2008-09 season where he played 38 games scoring 2 goals, but all three of those look firmly out of the picture with many considering its just a matter of time before Manning is unveiled at Stadium MK.
Strangely the Dons appear to once again have put their faith in someone with Norwich connections as Manning was once on the youth books of the Canaries as well as Ipswich Town but fear not, we don’t think he had any connections with Russell Martin.
Manning has on his CV coaching experience at West Ham United, Ipswich Town, and New York City who are part of the City Football group who have purchased several clubs around the world including Lommel.
Manning took charge of the Belgian team in August 2020 in his first job as a manager and steered them to 3rd place in the Proximus League.
Like Russell Martin did, Manning appears to have good connections in the footballing world, mainly with Manchester City, so if he puts pen to paper, we can only hope he gets straight on the phone to Pep Guardiola and starts tapping him up for a few players…. well, we can dream.
As we write this there is no news from Stadium MK, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see this announced very soon, but possibly too late for Manning to take charge on Saturday when we play our first home league game against Sunderland, but hopefully in time for the fans forum on Monday.
