‘We’ve seen the script written for us but we’re here to prove them wrong’: Lincoln’s coaching double act Tom Shaw and Chris Cohen on sharing the ‘chaos’ together, why they know their dynamic works and the Imps’ transfer plans

When Michael Skubala left Lincoln City for Bristol City in June, the club had a decision to make.

Skubala had overseen an incredible two-and-a-half years at the ProAmpac Stadium, guiding the Imps to the League One title with 103 points last season and promotion to the second tier for the first time in 65 years.

But Lincoln’s rise from the National League to the Championship has been built around a unified, club-wide strategy that is bigger than any one person – in an environment where staff are given the opportunity to develop.

So, while interviews took place with outside candidates, Lincoln took the bold step of promoting Tom Shaw and Chris Cohen to joint-head coaches.

Shaw joined Lincoln’s academy in 2018 and had a seven-game spell as caretaker boss before Skubala’s arrival in 2023. Cohen, in his third spell with the club, had been joint-assistant head coach alongside Shaw since November 2024.

Both had significant responsibility under Skubala, regularly taking training sessions, leading meetings and helping to develop Lincoln’s game model.

The unique and bold move came after boss Michael Skubala left the club to join Bristol City 

A single head coach was considered, but the club felt the partnership best suited their collaborative approach. More importantly, they believed it offered the best way to preserve the structure behind such a special campaign.

‘There are a few more things like this to do,’ Shaw tells Daily Mail Sport about his newfound media responsibilities. ‘It’s been very similar on the pitch, but a few more roles off it, which have been really good challenges.’

Ironically, the idea of becoming joint-head coaches was one Shaw and Cohen had already discussed in the event Skubala left, but the club beat them to it.

‘They’d thought of it first,’ Cohen says. ‘So we never had to ask for it. They came to us and said, “This is the way we see it happening if you two are both happy to do it that way”.

‘And I couldn’t think of a better person to be sharing the chaos of being a manager in the Championship with.’

The appointment has inevitably sparked debate. Peterborough owner Darragh MacAnthony this week said he ‘hated’ the idea of joint-managers, insisting there ‘can only be one’ and argued the model is ‘problematic’.

‘We appreciate the question marks because it’s not the norm,’ Shaw says. ‘But this is a way of working that we’ve been doing for a number of years that has brought big success.

‘Everybody in the building knows how it works, why it works, and we’ll be continuing that. We’ll share duties between us, and, over time, figure out who’s better at each of them.

‘But we’ve known each other for a long time, and we’ve earned this opportunity to do it together.’

Lincoln won the League One title with 103 points after an incredible unbeaten run last season

They are sticking with the players who won them promotion, meaning stars like Reeco Hackett (pictured) will get a chance to thrive in the Championship

Managing in tandem remains unusual, and critics will point to the infamous failed experiment when Liverpool paired Gerard Houllier with Roy Evans in the 1990s.

But Cohen and Shaw insist their arrangement is fundamentally different. And, listening to the pair explain their relationship, it is easy to see why Lincoln believe the model can work.

‘For the last three seasons, we’ve been designing a game plan throughout the week,’ Cohen says. ‘We would then go to Michael with it, and he had the final say.

‘By the time we went into the room, we were united. We got there through a load of disagreements and debates, but the main thing was we would live by it on a Saturday. By the time we’d leave the analysis room, we’d be completely convinced.’

Their relationship goes beyond the training ground, too.

Shaw, who has driven in with Cohen for the past three years, says: ‘We’ve grown to love each other’s company and there is massive respect.

‘I watched Chris play back in the day so I have huge respect for him as a football man and just as a bloke in general.

‘We’ve got a really nice relationship, and our families know each other now too, which is another lovely thing.’

Cohen and Shaw were key cogs in Skubala’s coaching team, and they are relishing the step up

The Imps are back in the second tier of English football for the first time in 65 years

The appointment also provides continuity after a campaign that ended with Lincoln on a club-record 29-match unbeaten run. That became 30 with Saturday’s 2-1 Carabao Cup victory over Derby.

Several members of the promotion-winning squad have signed new deals and, while key man Jack Moylan moved to Cardiff City, five players have come through the door, including highly rated Tottenham forward Mason Melia, who had been the subject of 30 loan enquiries.

‘We don’t want to be one of these clubs that moves up a division and clears the decks to try and get players they think are going to be better,’ Cohen says.

‘These players are capable in the Championship. They got 103 points last year, which should give them an incredible amount of confidence.

‘There’s some big names in the division, some experienced managers we’ve got to go toe-to-toe with, but we feel prepared. The players deserve to go and push themselves and see how they can do at this level too.

‘There will be some tough weekends but our job is to keep the belief in this group because we know they’re good enough.’

Lincoln had the 17th biggest budget in League One last season and are likely to be among the Championship’s smallest spenders. Yet they are prepared to be ambitious in the transfer market.

The Imps have already broken their transfer record for Romanian defender Andrei Coubis and are likely to do so again before the window closes.

They remain the overwhelming bookies’ favourites for relegation, but Shaw and Cohen are relishing the opportunity to silence the doubters.

‘We’ve seen the script that’s written for Lincoln City in the Championship,’ Shaw says. ‘That’s a massive motivation for our lads.

‘We’re here to prove people wrong every week and this club has done pretty well as the underdog in recent seasons.’

Lincoln extended their club-record unbeaten run to 30 games with a 2-1 victory over Derby

Cohen and Shaw celebrate after the impressive season-opening win in the Carabao Cup

Whatever happens, it will be a journey for the thousands of Lincoln fans who will follow their team around the country and watch them face sides they could have previously only dreamed of meeting in a league match.

It starts with Middlesbrough on Saturday.

‘We’re hopefully going to win lots of games, but we’ll also lose and draw lots,’ Cohen concludes. ‘But at the end of every game we have to make sure we’ve put in a performance that everyone can be proud of.

‘If we walk off the pitch feeling that it is a team we can be proud of, that will be enough. There will be days where the ball wazzes in the top corner a couple of times, and there’s not much we can do. But if it’s something within our control, and we do it incredibly well, we’re going to overachieve again.’

Shaw adds: ‘We’ve got some trips to some big names and stadiums, which will feel very different, but we have no fear.

‘We want to go and have a real ding-dong at some of these ex-Premier League and big football clubs.’