On Monday, November 13, Skubala, a former member of Leeds U21, was named manager of the Imps, a Lincolnshire team currently sitting tenth in League One. The former England futsal coach takes over for Mark Kennedy, who left Sincil Bank a few weeks ago. Shaw has been in charge of Lincoln’s past five games since Kennedy’s departure.
Leeds expressed their sadness at Skubala’s departure, but they were also proud that another young coach, who had held a major role at Thorp Arch, had taken the first step into senior coaching in the Football League. After Mark Jackson, who is currently with the Central Coast Mariners in the Australian A-League, Skubala becomes the second former Leeds U21 manager to be recruited to a League One team in the previous 12 months.
Skubala will take some time this month and during the holiday to evaluate the choices available to him in order to decide whether the club needs to expand their ranks during the winter window, with less than two months until the January transfer window starts.
There is a possibility that one or more of the United teenagers will return with Skubala after working with the likes of Lewis Bate, Mateo Joseph, Darko Gyabi, Sean McGurk, and Sonny Perkins during the previous season and a half at Leeds.
Perkins is currently out on loan with Oxford United, also of League One, but has struggled for league minutes and could be in line for a January recall if his lack of involvement continues at the Kassam Stadium. Bate and Gyabi, meanwhile, were the subject of loan interest from Fleetwood Town towards the end of the summer window but remained at Leeds and are both candidates for a January switch. Bate spent last season on loan at Oxford, where he featured prominently, but this season he has yet to make a first-team appearance under Daniel Farke, restricted to outings in Skubala’s U21 side.
McGurk and Joseph, the latter of whom was appointed captain by Skubala, are two of the current U21 crop’s brightest prospects. At 20 years of age, both are reaching the stage of their careers where senior football should be sought on a regular basis.
Skubala was widely regarded as a popular figure and coach at Leeds and remains well thought of within the U21 squad, which suggests there would be few qualms from Leeds’ perspective if Lincoln were to come calling for a handful of the up-and-coming Whites youngsters on loan in January.
In the meantime, the 41-year-old faces a tricky test over the next couple of weeks, with away trips to fifth-place Stevenage, Leyton Orient, and sixth-place Barnsley to contend with.
