Kevin Nolan is poised to be named Northampton Town’s new manager. The former West Ham first-team coach is expected to return to a No 1 role for the first time since being sacked by Notts County in August 2018. Nolan’s first taste of management came as a player-manager at Leyton Orient two years earlier.
The 42-year-old former Bolton and Newcastle midfielder was part of David Moyes’s staff at West Ham for four years but left when the Scot departed the club in May this year and has been keen to return to frontline management.
Nolan is expected to replace Jon Brady, who this month resigned after three-and-a-half years in charge. Brady’s assistant, former manager Ian Sampson, has been in caretaker charge. Northampton are 20th in League One, a place above the relegation zone after a 5-0 defeat at home to Charlton at the weekend. Northampton travel to Reading on Boxing Day.
Nolan was also linked with the managerial vacancy at Bristol Rovers, who sacked Matt Taylor this month. Rovers remain on the hunt for a successor, with former Forest Green Rovers head coach David Horseman in interim charge.
In August, Nolan was appointed interim assistant head coach of England’s under-20s, supporting Paul Nevin, whom he worked with at West Ham. Nolan was capped twice by England’s under-21s as a player and previously said he was disappointed to be overlooked at senior level.
