Michael Skubala Closing in on Bristol City Job
Michael Skubala is closing in on the Bristol City job, with talks over a three-year deal understood to be at an advanced stage – a move that would leave Lincoln City searching for a new head coach after one of the most impressive tenures in their history.
According to Telegraph reporter John Percy, negotiations between Skubala and City are ongoing but moving towards agreement. If signed off, the deal would prise him away from Sincil Bank with the second-best win percentage the club has ever seen and on the back of a campaign many around Lincoln would argue is their finest.
Bristol City’s twist-filled chase
This has not been a straightforward courtship. Bristol City’s first approach a couple of weeks ago barely registered as a serious threat in some quarters. It felt exploratory, a club doing its due diligence rather than preparing to rip up its dugout plans.
Then the picture changed.
James Ellis, a close ally of Skubala, arrived at Ashton Gate as sporting director. That appointment instantly sharpened the focus on the Lincoln boss. From an outside candidate, he quickly became a serious runner.
Even then, the path was anything but clear. City identified Tommy Elphick as their preferred choice and moved to appoint the former Bournemouth defender last week. At that stage, the Skubala talk seemed to be drifting towards a footnote, with reports suggesting he was instead close to committing his future to the Imps.
Then came another jolt. Elphick, it was reported, turned the job down, opting to stay at Dean Court and continue his work under Bournemouth’s new manager. Bristol City, suddenly without their first-choice target, had to regroup.
They turned back to Skubala. Fast.
By yesterday, City’s attention was firmly trained on the Lincoln head coach again, and the momentum has swung decisively. A three-year agreement is now believed to be close, and it would be a genuine surprise to see Skubala still in the Lincoln dugout when pre-season friendlies roll around.
Lincoln’s next move
So what comes next for the Imps?
Behind the scenes, there is always a plan. Every modern club with serious ambitions keeps a succession strategy in place – whether that’s a shortlist of external candidates or one obvious internal front-runner ready to step up.
Given Lincoln’s steady, methodical evolution over recent seasons, there is little sense of panic. The expectation is that the appointment will be swift. That speed should not be mistaken for desperation. It points instead to a process already mapped out, a club acting on a script written long before Bristol City picked up the phone.
Internally, the idea of continuity holds obvious appeal. The current set-up under Skubala is collaborative, not built around a single dominant voice. That naturally opens the door to the notion of promoting from within, allowing the existing structure to slide upwards rather than be ripped apart.
Names such as Tom Shaw and Chris Cohen fit that model. Elevate them, keep the core ideas intact, and then reinforce lower down the coaching ladder. It is a philosophy that values culture and shared understanding over a headline-grabbing arrival.
A Brentford-style blueprint
The template many point to sits 140 miles away in west London.
Brentford have become the poster club for succession done well. Dean Smith laid the foundations there, reshaping the Bees into a progressive, data-driven outfit. When he left, the club didn’t scour the market for a “big name”. They promoted Thomas Frank from within.
Frank then drove Brentford into the Premier League and turned them into a top-half force. When he moved on, the club again resisted the urge to jump on the managerial merry-go-round. They elevated set-piece coach Keith Andrews to head coach, a decision built on familiarity with the players, the ownership and the club’s identity.
The result? Another season finishing in the Premier League’s top ten in three of the last four campaigns. No scramble, no short-term fix, no lurch away from what made them successful.
That is the kind of calm, controlled transition Lincoln will aspire to if, as expected, Skubala heads for Ashton Gate. No “get so-and-so in” panic, no social media-fuelled chase for the loudest available name. Just a clear, thought-through handover that keeps the club’s trajectory pointing upwards.
For now, Lincoln wait. Bristol City push to close out their deal. One club looks to lock in a new era in the Championship; the other stands on the brink of a change that could define how high this project can climb.
