Cobblers put Gray in hot seat
Northampton have appointed former Wolves assistant manager Stuart Gray as the club's new boss.Northampton have appointed former Wolves assistant manager Stuart Gray as the club's new boss. The ex-Southampton manager replaces John Gorman, who left the League One strugglers for personal reasons in December, and has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract at Sixfields. Ian Sampson, who has been managing the Cobblers on a temporary basis, and Jim Barron will both remain at the club as first-team coaches. Read the full story in the Express & Star
The ex-Southampton manager replaces John Gorman, who left the League One strugglers for personal reasons in December, and has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract at Sixfields.
Ian Sampson, who has been managing the Cobblers on a temporary basis, and Jim Barron will both remain at the club as first-team coaches.Gray was appointed assistant manager at Wolves by Dave Jones in January, 2004.
He served as caretaker boss at Molineux following Jones' sacking later that year and later continued as assistant to Glenn Hoddle.
He left the club following Mick McCarthy's appointment in the summer.
Gray also has experience as first-team coach at Villa.
Gray said: "I am very pleased and proud to be given this chance.
"The club has a very good feel to it and having met the chairman and the rest of the board I have seen how ambitious they are.
"I will quickly be evaluating what we have and the areas that need strengthening and getting down to work right away."
Northampton chairman David Cardoza added: "Stuart is one of the most respected and highly-rated young managers and coaches in the game.
"As soon as John Gorman left we moved quickly and identified Stuart as a very strong candidate. His CV is very impressive and we spoke to him last Friday and he came across very well.
"Despite only being young in management terms, he has a wealth of experience and contacts in the game.
"Stuart, like Colin Calderwood and John Gorman, will be given every opportunity in terms of time and support to build the squad he wants.
"With the transfer window system now in place that means it can take longer than was previously the case, but Stuart will have the opportunity to strengthen the squad in January and again in the summer.
"We are very excited about this appointment and we are sure that the fans will join me in welcoming Stuart to Sixfields.
"His appointment is a sign of our undiminishing ambition to make Northampton Town a Championship club, playing in a re-developed Sixfields Stadium and we see Stuart as the man to oversee that progression."