Pre-season is always a busy time for football managers and Scunthorpe boss Russ Wilcox has the added job of finding an assistant ahead of the new campaign.
Tony Daws had stepped up from his role as Youth Development Officer to work alongside Wilcox towards the end of 2013 but has decided to return to his role within the youth set-up full time, meaning that the search is on to find his replacement.But Wilcox has stated the importance of not rushing into any decision and selecting the right person for the job.
He told The Iron Player: “I’ve had a lot of names thrown at me and certain people that jump out but there’s no rush.
“I’m not going to rush into anything regarding that unless something really jumps out at me because it’s a very important appointment for the football club.
“If the right person comes along then we’ll see what we can do but there’s no rush.”
Daws was given the option to take up the assistant manager role on a permanent basis but elected to revert back to his previous task of developing the club’s youth team.
He will now focus on trying to gain Category 2 youth academy status for United which Wilcox believes is the reason why Daws opted not to stay with the first team.
“It was a really tough decision for Tony because he’s enjoyed his time with us and his contribution has been very valuable,” Wilcox continued.
“He’s brought experience which I needed and help on the training ground but we’re trying to develop the club as a group and the youth team will play a part in that.
“There’s a lot of hard work involved with achieving Category 2 status so it’ll take time and it might come a little bit further down the line.
“I think the group of youth players we have now are probably the best group of players we’ve had since the Matthew Sparrow and Nathan Stanton days and Tony has played a key role in that. He’s done a terrific job.”
Somebody that will be working with the first team this coming season is Andy Dawson who has signed a one-year-deal as a player/coach at the club.
And Wilcox is again looking forward to having Dawson involved with first team affairs.
“He’ll have a foot in two camps, very similar to what he did last season,” Wilcox added.
“He’ll play a part in the first team as a player but also in developing his coaching skills with the reserves and looking after the younger players in the group.
“He had a great first season both on and off the pitch, he played 22 games and had a big impact towards the end of the season helping out myself and Tony so it’s good to have him on board again.”
See much more from Russ Wilcox on The Iron Player.