4 minute read
MK Dons
IN OPPOSITION: MILTON KEYNES DONS
MEET THE BOSS: LIAM MANNING
Advertisement
Following the early season departure of Russell Martin to Swansea City, MK Dons turned to Liam Manning to take over in the hotseat. Not a familiar name with many supporters, he’ll be looking to make his mark with MK, having already made an encouraging start to the League One campaign.
Manning, who played for Ipswich Town and Icelandic side Selfoss during his playing career, began coaching in 2006 with the Tractor Boys where he progressed from Head Coach of the Under-13s to the club’s Lead Youth Development Coach.
In December 2015, he joined West Ham United, initially as their assistant Academy manager before serving as Head of Coaching and, later, taking charge of their Under-23s.
Manning was part of the Hammers setup that won the 2016 Premier League Cup as well as promotion to Premier League 2 Division One. What’s more, players such as Grady Diangana and Declan Rice emerged from the West Ham Academy during his four years in the capital.
In April 2019, he joined the City Football Group and was named Director of Coaching for the New York City Academy although he was quickly promoted to Academy Director. During his short time in the US, Manning led NYCFC to a second consecutive U.S. Soccer Development Academy Under-19 National Championship.
The following summer, Manning was appointed Head Coach of Lommel SK, where he was tasked with rebuilding a team who had won just six games during the 2019/20 season. As well as implementing a new style of play, he also guided them to a third-place finish, one spot shy of a promotion play-off place.
ONES TO WATCH
DEAN LEWINGTON
Full back, captain and club legend, Lewington has a similar story to that of our very own James Coppinger. Having made his debut for Wimbledon in 2003, Lewington stayed with the club which moved to Milton Keynes and has been with MK Dons ever since, with a total of over 700 league appearances for the club and over 800 appearances in total, he is currently the longest-serving player in English football.
TROY PARROTT
On loan from Tottenham Hotspur for the season, Parrott had already made his Premier League debut for Spurs and is contracted to them until 2023, so clearly held in high regard. Having had loan spells at Millwall and Ipswich Town in previous seasons, he’ll be looking to make his mark at Stadium MK this season having already bagged a couple of goals. At 19 he’s already a Republic of Ireland international where he has made seven appearances, scoring two goals.
JOSH McEACHRAN
The experienced 28-year-old midfielder was labelled a real hot prospect in his youth when he was on the books of Chelsea in total making 22 appearances for them and represented England frequently between under 16 and under 21 levels. Whilst at Chelsea he gained plenty of experience at different clubs as he spent time on loan at Swansea City, Middlesbrough, Watford, Wigan Athletic and Vitesse in Holland. In 2015 he left Chelsea moving to Brentford where he remained for four seasons before joining Birmingham City in 2019. He teamed up with MK Dons towards in January last season and signed a new contract in the summer.
MO EISA
Eisa came to prominence in the 2017/18 season where he scored 25 goals in 50 competitive games having had a similar if not better goalscoring record in non-league football with Greenwich Borough in the two previous seasons. His exploits at Cheltenham Town alerted Bristol City who signed him for a deal reported to be in the region of £1.5m in the summer of 2018. Things didn’t go to plan with the Robins where he only made five appearances without scoring, and in the summer of 2019 Peterborough United broke their transfer record on signing Eisa where he went on to make 56 league appearances scoring 16 goals. He’s hot off the mark this season and at the time of writing has already scored three goals.
MAX WATTERS
Perhaps the one that got away! Watters spent time in Rovers Youth Academy and made six first team appearances from the bench during his time at the Keepmoat before being released at the end of the 2019/20 season. The rest is history as they say, as he went on to sign for Crawley Town where he was prolific, notching 16 goals in 19 appearances for them. As a result in the January 2020 transfer window Cardiff City paid a reported £1m fee for Watters where he made three appearances for the Bluebirds last season. He’s already broken his scoring duck with MK Dons with a goal in the recent game away at Gillingham in a 4-1 victory and will be looking to add plenty more during his season long loan spell.
SHARED 5-A-SIDE
ADEMOLA BANKOLE
MATHIEU BAUDRY
JORDAN HOUGHTON
PAUL DOWNING
