Michael Skubala Close to Bristol City Job Amid Ongoing Negotiations

Michael Skubala is closing in on the Bristol City job, with a three-year deal on the table and negotiations described as “ongoing” by Telegraph reporter John Percy. If, as expected, he signs at Ashton Gate, Lincoln City will not only lose their head coach but also the man who departs with the second-best win percentage in the club’s history, after what many around Sincil Bank regard as their finest modern campaign.

This has not been a straight-line story. Far from it.

A Saga With Twists

Bristol City’s first move for Skubala a couple of weeks ago barely registered as a serious threat in Lincoln circles. An enquiry, nothing more. Then the mood shifted. The interest hardened. The dynamic changed again when Skubala’s close friend James Ellis arrived at Ashton Gate as sporting director, instantly giving the 42-year-old a powerful ally in the corridors of power.

For a while, though, it looked as if the door had slammed shut.

City turned to their preferred candidate, Tommy Elphick, and were confident enough that word filtered out: this was their man. Reports followed suggesting Skubala was instead on the verge of extending his stay with the Imps, a neat, tidy end to a brief flirtation with the Championship.

Then came the twist.

Elphick, by all accounts, decided he would rather remain at Bournemouth’s Dean Court under their new manager than take the plunge in his first senior role. Bristol City, suddenly without their first choice, went back to the man who had already impressed them. Skubala was back in play.

The pressure finally told. Talks accelerated. A three-year agreement is now understood to be close, and it would be a genuine surprise if Skubala is still in the Lincoln dugout by the time pre-season friendlies roll around.

Life After Skubala

So what next for Lincoln?

This is not a club that lurches from one idea to the next. Behind every head coach, there is a plan for what happens when he goes – whether that is a carefully curated list of names or a clear front-runner ready to step in. Given how the club has evolved over recent years, the expectation is that the appointment will be swift. That should not be mistaken for panic. It points to preparation.

The current set-up under Skubala is built on collaboration rather than a single dominant personality. That is why an internal solution has real appeal. There is a strong argument for Tom Shaw and Chris Cohen stepping up, maintaining the structure that has underpinned Lincoln’s progress rather than tearing it up to accommodate a new, headline-grabbing figure.

Shift everyone up a rung. Fill the gaps beneath. Keep the ideas, the culture, the language of the club intact.

The Brentford Blueprint

Lincoln do not have to look far for a template. Brentford have shown what a clear succession plan can do for a club’s trajectory.

Dean Smith laid the groundwork there, reshaping the Bees and pushing them towards the top end of the Championship. When he left, they did not scour the usual managerial merry-go-round. They promoted from within, elevating Thomas Frank. Frank took them into the Premier League. When he moved on, they again looked internally, handing the reins to set-piece coach Keith Andrews. The result? A club that has finished in the top ten of the Premier League in three of the last four seasons, with continuity and clarity at its core.

No scramble. No chasing the biggest name on social media. No “get Wanrock in” noise dictating the direction of the club.

Just a calm, coherent line of succession, with each head coach already steeped in the club’s methods, players, owners and culture before they ever lead a training session as the main man.

Lincoln, under progressive ownership and a modern football structure, are well placed to follow that kind of model.

For now, there is a pause. A wait for confirmation from Ashton Gate, for the official word that Skubala is trading League One ambition for a Championship challenge. When it comes, the Imps will step into a new era, not just in the division they aspire to reach, but in the dugout that will shape whether they get there.