Ex-Nottingham Forest manager Chris Hughton has emerged as a shock candidate to take over at League Two outfit Swindon, according to reports. The experienced boss has been working with Ghana behind the scenes for the past year.
A return to club management could be on the cards for the 64-year-old. Swindon are without a manager after Scott Lindsey left the club last week, amid reports he’s set to join Crawley.
Hughton has enjoyed a vast managerial career. He’s won promotion to the Premier League with Newcastle, Norwich and Brighton during a career that has served him well.
The man who played 53 times for the Republic of Ireland during his career didn’t shine at Forest. He was handed a tough job in 2020 when Sabri Lamouchi was dismissed from his role.
Hughton did very little to excite the fans. He managed to keep the team in the Championship during 2020/21 but after failing to win any of the first seven games of last season he was sacked.
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His record at Forest was truly appalling. The atmosphere became toxic towards the end of his tenure and he left with just 14 wins from his 53 games; a win ratio of 26%.
Clearly, Hughton has achieved things in his career as a manager that he can be proud of. His style of play proved drab at Forest though and Swindon should tread with caution.
Ex-Forest boss Hughton lined-up for Swindon job
This would represent something of a fall from grace for Hughton. He’s never managed any lower than the Championship and perhaps it highlights where his stature is in today’s game.
Hughton’s style would be the main worry if he gets the Swindon job. It’s hard to imagine his pragmatic, often drab style of football exciting the Robins’ fans should he get the gig.
His role at Ghana looked perfect. With the national team, he was there as a sound board and as someone who had the experience to cope with pressure situations.
Perhaps a behind-the-scenes role is better for Hughton these days and it will be interesting to see whether he can prove that theory wrong at Swindon.