Why isn’t there a new head coach at MK Dons yet?

Ten days after the sacking of Liam Manning, MK Dons are seemingly no closer to announcing a new head coach.

The team have now played three games without a permanent man in charge, and such has been the state of play, Dons have even struggled to get a permanent caretaker boss in charge.

Plenty of names have been linked with the post, experienced names, managers with decent pedigree but the role itself may be the stumbling block.

Former Wigan boss Leam Richardson has been linked heavily with the role, but those links have come from sources not necessarily fully understanding of the job on offer.

The head coach role isn’t like a manager’s job where you lead departments and have overall say. For an experienced head to come in, it is asking a lot for them to give up that control, particularly the recruitment. With Dons in desperate need of a strong window, leaving that in the hands of a Sporting Director is asking a lot of someone like Richardson. And it is exactly why the link to Leeds’ Mark Jackson has more viability than any other thus far. Jackson is, as yet, an unproven quantity as a head coach.

What this drawn-out saga also highlights though is that for all the talk of forward and contingency planning, there was clearly none done prior to the sacking of Manning. If indeed there was a list of candidates to be next in line should Manning go, whether the club were in a good position or bad, the groundwork to bring them onboard was evidently not done until after he packed his office away.

Sleuthing behind someone’s back might not be a moral thing to do, but this is football and Dons aren’t strangers to it - Russell Martin’s appointment came immediately upon the sacking of Paul Tisdale, and Dan Micciche was in place barely before Robbie Neilson’s seat was cold. The writing was on the wall for Manning long before he went too, these soundings should have been done weeks ago. Maybe it was, and the reason for the delay is more worrying... maybe no-one wants the gig.

Perhaps the delay is the position the club find themselves - in the relegation zone. The lure though is the opportunity to build something longer term, knowing they will likely get a decent spell in charge to start a project. But some might find it too much an ask to rescue the side, even after their win against Portsmouth on Saturday.

The longer the wait goes on, the more questions it asks of Dons’ behind-the-scenes setup. Waiting for the right man is one thing, but actively going to get him should have been the method from the very start.