ALLEN SET FOR SPIREITE SWITCH
Manager lined up after his Bees exit
MARTIN Allen is set to return to football on another rescue mission – with relegated Chesterfield.
The Spireites, who have dropped out of the Football League for the first time, believe the exBarnet boss can take them straight back.
Allen is ready to answer the SOS and is expected to be unveiled in the next 48 hours.
He quit Barnet – where he has had five spells in charge – after narrowly failing to keep the club in the League.
Ironically, the Bees beat an already doomed Chesterfield in their last game.
The Spireites admired from both long and close range the impact Allen had in a short time.
They are prepared to gamble on his fiery nature – he is not nicknamed “Mad Dog” for nothing – to have a similarly quickfire impact at the Proact stadium.
Impact
The appointment is understood to have been led by club owner Dave Allen, who quit the board 18 months ago but, with nearly £10m sunk into the club, still has the major say.
Chesterfield are seemingly hell-bent on a first-time escape from the National League.
Allen’s record suggests he is not a long-term bet. Including a caretaker stint at Barnet, he has had 12 different managerial assignments in 15 years. Some, including Leicester City, have been spectacularly short.
But if he restores Chesterfield to the League at the first attempt, no-one will mind what happens after that. Crucially, Allen won the then Conference title with Barnet in 2014-15. Chesterfield wanted proven experience of the level and it appears they will get it.
That involved wooing the former QPR, West Ham, Portsmouth and Southend midfielder the furthest north in his long career. It is understood Allen, 52, will commit to living in the Chesterfield area. The club prepared for his arrival with a clearance of out-of-contract players, which they said was a prior stipulation of managerial candidates. There was understandable criticism of the release of long-serving Ian Evatt and Drew Talbot. Evatt had been skipper and latterly caretaker manager following the departure of Jack Lester. However, the prospect of Allen taking charge has proved popular. For all the combustible nature of his career, and the many moves, he has a win ratio topping 40 per cent.
Although Barnet went down last weekend, it has done little to damage Allen’s reputation. The Bees were in all sorts of trouble before he arrived – seven points off safety and onto their fourth manager of the season after Rossi Eames, Mark McGhee and Graham Westley.
Message
They ended up going down on goal difference after Allen won five of the eight games he took charge of at the end of the season.
In a message on the club’s website, Allen told Bees fans he was moving on.
“A short while ago, I had a meeting with the chairman to let him know that I would not be continuing to manage his and your club,” he said.
“It’s been an amazing, unforgettable eight weeks with all the players and the positive energy and the enthusiasm from all the supporters has been quite overwhelming, and I can’t thank you enough.
“The chairman has offered me a fantastic contract, offered to increase the budget and had done everything he could and no blame whatsoever can be put his way.
“For me, it was eight weeks and I am happy but of course, underneath, I’m bitterly disappointed and still very upset that we were unable to retain our position in the Football League.
“I really do hope Barnet football club can now grow with these players plus the addition of (Elliott) Johnson, (Dave) Tarpey and (Mauro) Vilhete and you can all be proud to be Barnet supporters.”