League Two 2023/24: Top Five Managers of the Season

EFL pundit Gab Sutton picks out his top five high-performing managers from the 2023/24 League Two season...

• Read: Championship Managers of the Season
• Read: League One Managers of the Season

Honourable Mentions

Before I get underway, here are a couple of honourable mentions that just missed out:

Phil Parkinson (Wrexham)

By omitting Parky, we’re not in the “this achievement means nothing because you bought it” camp – we appreciate that there’s more to success than money and back-to-back promotions is a fantastic accomplishment. Ultimately, there are managers who got more out of their resources – well done to Phil nonetheless.

Mike Williamson (MK Dons)

MK Dons were 16th in League Two when Mike Williamson took charge in October, eight games without a win, so launching an automatic promotion challenge was a respectable achievement. We’re not quite putting him in our top five because the quality of the squad was capable of that form as soon as the style changed from Graham Alexander, but a great job done nonetheless.

5. Nigel Clough (Mansfield Town)

Yours’ truly questioned whether Mansfield would challenge for promotion this season, after missing out on the Play-Offs by a fraction last year.

The squad was getting on, it seemed, and the one-year contract for Nigel Clough, with an option on the second, didn’t exactly feel like a ringing endorsement.

All those questions, though, have been emphatically answered by the Stags in 2023/24, who have been an impeccably complete outfit.

Town retained the midfield strength that had been the hallmark of their near-misses in previous promotion challenges, and the attacking prowess that made them top goalscorers in League Two last season, with Davis Keillor-Dunn finding another gear in the hole.

The crucial difference, though, has been the defence, with Aden Flint, Baily Cargill, and Lewis Brunt all enjoying outstanding campaigns.

Perennial bridesmaids for so long, Clough has finally got Mansfield promoted - they’re back in the third tier for the first time since 2002/03!

4. Grant McCann (Doncaster Rovers)

Grant McCann isn’t a name that would’ve been expected on this list after his Doncaster side lost 2-1 at Walsall on 2nd March, leaving them 20th in League Two - but it’s all changed since then.

An astonishing 10-game winning run turned their season around in the final furlong, before a 2-2 draw at Gillingham got them into the Play-Offs.

A combination of key returns from Jamie Sterry at right-back and Richard Wood at centre-back, and smart January recruitment in the acquisitions of Timothee Lo-Tutala, Matthew Craig, and Hakeeb Adelakun has turned their season on its head.

McCann as a manager has struggled for consistency in his career so far, with great achievements like getting Doncaster into the League One Play-Offs in 2018/19, and winning the title at that level with Hull two years later, interspersed with more challenging periods.

The Northern Irishman’s ceiling is high, though, and he’d back himself to thrive in the division above - he may get the chance to do so next season if Donny can overcome Crewe, plus MK Dons or Crawley, in the Play-Offs.

3. Dave Challinor (Stockport County)

It might seem churlish not to give the title-winning manager top honours, as the EFL have done at the official awards, but we’re factoring in budget a little bit.

Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean Dave Challinor hasn’t done a fantastic job to deliver two titles in three full seasons as Stockport boss.

While the Liverpudlian has had a big squad to work with, he’s needed it at times too, with the volume of injuries in the middle third of the campaign.

Challinor began with his favoured wing-back system but, when experiments with Kyle Knoyle and Ibou Touray as outside centre-backs didn’t work, he had the flexibility to switch to a 4-4-2 diamond, which saw County onto a stunning 12-game winning streak.

Without being the most aesthetically enterprising footballing side in the world, the Hatters were ruthlessly efficient.

Will Collar and Ryan Croasdale closed off spaces in midfield, Antoni Sarcevic led the press from the tip of the diamond, while Louie Barry provided a sprinkling of stardust that was crucial to their form.

When Barry got injured, Challinor had to adapt again but that’s when Isaac Olaofe came into form, finishing on 20 goals.

Goalkeeper Ben Hinchliffe and centre-back Fraser Horsfall, meanwhile, were models of consistency.

2. Lee Bell (Crewe)

Lee Bell might not be considered the archetypal Crewe Alexandra manager.

Whereas Dario Gradi, Steve Davis, and David Artell’s main strengths at Gresty Road lay in their strategic continuity, Bell’s biggest attribute is his adaptability.

Give him a horrific injury crisis, and he’ll cobble together a system that can hold up.

Give him a game that isn’t going to plan, and he’ll change its trajectory with bold substitutions, or even just subtle in-game tweaks like moving Luke Offord from defence into midfield.

Honest, instinctive, and intuitive, Bell has shades of Darrell Clarke and looks likely to have a similarly successful lower league career to the Cheltenham boss, without quite having the stylistic or presentational appeal to be poached higher up the pyramid, although he has a chance of getting to the Championship if he promotes a club to that level.

For now, Bell looks to patch up his underdogs after a draining, injury-hit campaign for the Play-Off Semi-Final with Doncaster, as they pursue an unlikely promotion.

Whether it’s achieved or not, based on the rhetoric of five-year cycles at Crewe, the Alex are well ahead of schedule and Bell’s adaptability is the reason why.

1. Scott Lindsey (Crawley Town)

Scott Lindsey is one of the kindest people in the management industry and, in League Two this season, he’s proven himself as one of the best.

Open, personable, and vulnerable within reason, it’s no surprise that Lindsey strikes a chord with players, and he’s got Crawley playing smooth possession football, successfully, with a squad that had been ravaged by key sales.

Lindsey has got the best out of Danilo Orsi, who has scored 19 goals this season, despite having struggled previously at this level with Harrogate and Grimsby.

Thanks to Orsi’s goals, and Liam Kelly’s smooth control from the base of midfield, Crawley are headed for their first Play-Off campaign since 2011/12, and await a Semi-Final clash with MK Dons, hoping to earn a spot at Wembley.