Reaction to Sutton's appointment

Several hours after the appointment of Chris Sutton, I am over my initial surprise and disappointment and now am of the mindset that his appointment could easily go the opposite wya to what a lot of City fans are thinking.

Thinking back to as little as six hours ago, I was really nervous about our new managerial appointment, thinking about all the implications that each candidate would have. Simon Davey would have only ever been appointed because of the cup runs he created at Barnsley, Pemberton would have been based on a reputation gained through reserve football and Gary Brabin hasn't managed in the League. I was convinced it was one of the three and my favourite was Brabin, so when I got the text message at about 11:30am, you can imagine my surprise when I found out it was Chris Sutton.

At first I was a bit gutted as all I could see for next season were trips to places such as Altrincham, Stevenage and Hayes. The appointment didn't really wet my appetite and even the club are calling it a gamble, it's a gamble that could easily pay off, just like the appointments of Paul Ince (Macclesfield), Darren Ferguson (Peterborough) and Paul Trollope (Bristol Rovers) had, all of whom were first time managers.

The only problem being that we have absolutely no idea what type of tactics that Sutton will adopt. After taking hints from both Martin O'Neill and Roy Hodgson, you are more likely to see the Imps playing more on-the-ground football.

Another worrying aspect of not knowing about him or his tactics are his man management skills. Dealing with big egos such as John-Lewis or Cian Hughton, or dealing with players who are quite clearly not good enough to play for City, such as Kovacs, Kerr and pretty much everyone else, might be a bit of an issue for a man who hasn't had to deal with those sorts of problems before. Then again, Sutton does have a reputation for not exactly being subtle when he doesn't like someone or something.

His first competitive game in charge will be on Saturday and that is realistically the first chance we'll get to judge whether he is the right man for the job. With October usually being a good month for the club, and City facing several sides who are below them in the table, Sutton appears to have been given a half-decent start.

Only time will tell if he succeeds and whether the club's gamble will pay off.