Reports - Former Hartlepool United head coach under consideration for vacant National League manager's job
Former Hartlepool United head coach Anthony Limbrick is among those being considered for the vacant Yeovil Town job, according to reports.
As first revealed by Hayters, the former Pools man is one of the names under consideration by the Glovers following the sacking of manager Mark Cooper. Limbrick, who first joined Pools as part of Lennie Lawrence's coaching staff in November, took over as head coach after the veteran's sudden decision to step down in February. The charismatic Australian, who has a wide range of coaching and management experience following spells at the likes of Southampton, West Ham and Peterborough, where he worked in the club's academies, Woking, The New Saints, winning the Welsh league title in 2022, and Gibraltar's Manchester 62, won five of his 17 games at Victoria Park. Yet his record alone doesn't tell the whole story. Limbrick was handed the reins at a difficult time, with Pools winless in four matches and struggling to cope after losing Joe Grey and Anthony Mancini to injuries. After winning his opening game against Sutton, Pools failed to win for eight matches before embarking on a six-game unbeaten run, including impressive victories over Boston and rivals Gateeshead. A challenging task was made even more difficult when owner Raj Singh announced his sudden and unexpected resignation in March, a month after Limbrick's appointment, leaving him to navigate an uncertain period on and off the pitch, something he did with commendable level-headedness and sincerity. Despite that, Limbrick was replaced by Simon Grayson in June after an initial approach for Boston United manager Graham Coughlan was rebuffed, according to BBC Lincolnshire.
Yeovil, who are 18th in the National League, sacked manager Mark Cooper on Tuesday. Cooper, who scored nine goals in 31 games for Pools in the 1996/97 season, was appointed Yeovil boss in October 2022. Since then, Cooper has overseen a relegation, a promotion as well as a challenging and uncertain period off the pitch. The straight-talking former Swindon, Forest Green Rovers and Barrow manager, who also had a spell in charge of rivals Darlington at the beginning of his coaching career, was unable to stave off the threat of relegation to the National League South during his first season at Huish Park. However, the Somerset side bounced straight back and were crowned champions at the end of the 2023/24 season, returning to the National League at the first time of asking and setting a new club record after winning 14 consecutive matches. Yeovil's return to the fifth tier was overshadowed by ownership issues as the outspoken Martin Hellier, who delivered undeniable success but was often criticised for his turbulent running of the club and confrontational approach to dealing with criticism, made headlines for all the wrong reasons.
In the end, Yeovil finished 18th last season while Hellier, somewhat reluctantly, sold the club to Dubai-based entrepreneur Prabhu Srinivasan. Given all the chaos that surrounded the Glovers last term, it's little wonder that Srinivasan said he was targeting "calm and sustainable" growth after taking the reins. While Cooper had been promised an improved budget, one of the new regime's first acts was to move the club's training ground out of the town in order to allow the squad access to grass pitches; Cooper complained that Yeovil's artificial training surfaces had led to a proliferation of injuries last season. While that controversial move might still have positive consequences in the long run, Srinivasan later admitted it had eaten into the playing budget and Yeovil looked very much like a work in progress when Pools kicked off their new campaign with a goalless draw at Huish Park earlier this month. The Glovers have lost all of their three matches since then, going down to rivals Forest Green and Braintree before forfeiting a three-goal lead to lose 4-3 to Gateshead following Kain Adom's 98th minute winner on bank holiday Monday.