Now when I started writing these, I mistakenly thought that the 3 favourites with the bookies would be the people that would become Dundee United Manager.
Oh how wrong was I. So as the week has grown it turns out I and the bookies knew nothing. Who’d have thought it eh? So as I sit here typing this out it seems very certain that Micky Mellon will be manager.
So as I did with the rest I will attempt to give a low down on Micky Mellon and try my up most to not give out loads of stats as these can be extremely misleading.
Well you may already know this but I’ll start it as simple as I can. Micky Mellon left Scotland as a teenager to move to Bristol City. He then spent his entire career, bare a loan spell at Cork City, in the lower leagues in England. All most all of this time was spent in the third and fourth tiers. He spent time at West Brom, Bristol City and Burnley but he is most fondly remembered by the fans of Blackpool and Tranmere Rovers, where he spent two spells.
Micky Mellon’s first steps into coaching were spent at Lancaster City where he was also a player and as a underage coach at Burnley. He left Lancaster City in the autumn of 2006 and was solely a youth coach at Burnley until the 23 September 2008 when he was appointed as manager of Conference North Side Fleetwood Town FC.
Now for a bit of context Fleetwood Town were in 2004 the in the 9th tier of English football and had a history of being a club that had always been around that level. It was in this time that a local businessman by the name of Andrew Pilley came along and started to finance the club. Within 12 years the club would have 6 promotions to match and in 2007 he paid for a new stand to be build, the first at the club since 1939.
When Micky Mellon took the reigns at the club in September. In January 2009 he became the clubs first ever full-time manager. Then with the money behind him, he took the new boys in league to 8th, 14 points outside the the play-off places. They got through to the 2nd round of the FA Cup before being put out 3-2 by Hartlepool United. In his first full season at the helm he took the team to second in the Conference League North losing out on the title by a mere point. However, it would be the play offs that would take them up winning on pens against Droylsden and beating Alfreton Town 2-1 in the final to get promoted to the Conference.
It was in their first season in the conference where the owners money helped and allowed the club to form a side of good professionals, which enabled them to get to fifth in the league and to the play offs where they were resoundingly beaten by AFC Wimbledon 8-1 over the two legs. In the summer of 2011 Fleetwood spent the most amount of money in the league on signings and broke the summers transfer record to sign Jamie Vardy from Halifax Town where he had scored 25 goals in 37 games.
In the 2011-12 season Fleetwood Town would go on to win the league with 103 points, with Jamie Vardy scoring 31 goals in 36 games. This meant that for the first time in there history Fleetwood Town would become a League Two side. In the summer the club sold Vardy to Leicester City for a million pounds raising to 1.7 with add ons. That summer he wasn’t as lucky in the transfer market and after an initial good run in the league the team went on a run of only two wins in ten games and even after the signing of Barry Ferguson at the start of November, he couldn’t arrest the slide and after a defeat in the FA Cup to Aldershot Town he was sacked by the club on the 4th December 2012.
The club owner later stated it was because he kept expressing interest in the then vacant Blackpool and Burnley jobs and he didn’t want anyone who was looking at other jobs. After Mellon left Fleetwood Town they finished 13th in the league and his replacement Graham Alexander rebuild the squad which won the play offs the following season.
He was only out of football for a few days before being appointed as assistant manager at Barnsley. He would be there until March 2014 when due to a lack of “synergy” with the new manager he was sacked and replaced with Paul Heckingbottom. During his time at Barnsley he was caretaker manager in 2013 for three games winning one, drawing one and losing one. Also during his time there the club was twice approached by Forest Green Rovers to become manager but both approaches were rejected.
Again he was only out the game for a few months when he was appointed as manager of newly relegated Shrewsbury Town on the 12 May 2014. During that summer in preparation for that season in League Two he signed no less than 16 players including Jack Grimmer and Scott Vernon from Aberdeen. In that season the club finished in second and got promoted with 89 points 5 behind champions Burton Albion.
There following season wasn’t so good though. The transfers saw the likes of Connor Goldson and Martin Woods going out to be replaced by Ian Black and Jack Hendry. Despite a good run in the FA Cup before being put out by Manchester United 3-0 in the fifth round. The club had a difficult season on the pitch winning just 13 league games out of 46 and ending the season just 4 points and one place above the drop zone.
The following season was just as difficult and after only winning two of the first 10 games Micky Mellon’s contract was terminated by mutual consent. He left the club in 22nd in the league on the 6th October 2016.
Again though he wasn’t out of football for long as on the 7th October 2016 he was appointed manager of National League side Tranmere Rovers dropping two divisions to do so. During that season the club achieved 95 points but this wasn’t enough for top spot and after beating Aldershot Town in the semi final 5-2 over the two games. In the final though they weren’t so lucky getting beaten 3-1 by Forest Green Rovers.
In the 2017-18 season the club spent the entire season in the top 6. Plus with the signing of Ollie Norburn the club were free scoring but still finished in second 10 points behind the champions Macclesfield Town. The club again went into the play offs, this time though they beat Ebbsfleet United 4-2 on aggregate. Then in the final, with amazing character they beat Boreham Wood 2-1. This was after losing a man to a red card in the very first minute of the game.
The following season the club were nothing shy off amazing they were never below tenth in the table and scored 63 goals in 46 games. Ending the season with just 3 loses in 13 games. Finishing the season in sixth and in the play offs again. This time round when they played Forest Green Rovers they came out on top winning 2-1 after both legs. This taking them through to the final against Newport County winning 1-0 in extra time with Connor Jenkins scoring in the 119th minute. Taking the club on back to back promotions and to League One.
At the start of the 2019-20 season Tranmere were among the favourites to go straight back down. For most of the season that seemed the case with the team bouncing around the drop zone and going between December and March without a single league win. In the FA Cup though the club did have success beating Watford 2-1 in extra time and after a replay. Though they were beaten 6-0 by Manchester United in the following round. However, in the three games before the season was stopped the club did win all three games. At the stop the club were 3 points from safety and had a game in hand. However, even with this the club were relegated on a points per game average. During the season the club had won 8 games out of 34. Only scoring 36 times and conceding 60 goals.
So with all that information at hand will he be a good Dundee United manager? It is hard to tell. The media seem for the most part to concentrate on the fact he doesn’t have an experience in Scottish Football but he does have a lot of experience of managing on a very tight budget. Game management wise its hard to say he has five promotions under his belt granted most through play offs but its still a promotion. He clearly has good knowledge of the lower leagues in England but is that the area the club wish to recruit from?
As it seems from the outside this could be a secret gem but at the same time the question could be asked why has no other club has gone after him? Out of all the options that the club seem to have gone after this is arguably the lease well known or understood. As I said, he could be a gem of a finding. He could be a Steve Robinson, but at the same time he could be a Lee Clark. So lets wait and see.
A Football Fans View 