Report: Blackpool coach and former Glasgow Rangers, Hibs and Bolton striker 'in frame' for vacant League Two manager's job

Blackpool coach Stephen Dobbie is being linked with the vacant managerial job at Accrington.

The Sun on Sunday’s Alan Nixon, via his Patreon account, claims the Scot is in the frame for the position after Accy’s decision to part company with John Coleman and his assistant Jimmy Bell at the beginning of the month.

John Doolan is currently in caretaker charge at the Wham Stadium, with Accrington 16th in the League Two table after Saturday’s 3-0 home defeat at the hands of Bradford. However, Dobbie’s work at Bloomfield Road, where he’s currently Senior Professional Development Phase coach, apparently has him high on Accy’s radar. Meanwhile, his stint in charge of the Seasiders at the tail end of last season hasn’t gone unnoticed either, with Dobbie winning three of his six games in charge following the decision to part ways with Mick McCarthy as relegation from the Championship loomed.

That made the former forward, who had four spells as a player at Bloomfield Road, a popular choice among the fans to take the Blackpool manager’s job on a full-time basis. Yet it was Neil Critchley who the Seasiders turned to, offering their former head coach a four-year deal last summer.

Dobbie has since returned to his job with the under-23s, who currently sit third in the Central League behind Salford and Barrow. The side’s last match was a 2-1 win against Bolton Reserves last week. The youngsters’ next game is at home to Preston North End on Tuesday, March 26.

Whether Dobbie will be around then remains to be seen. But speaking to the Blackpool Gazette in May, club owner Simon Salder spoke highly of the former Rangers, Hibs and Bolton striker, who arrived at the club via AFC Fylde in July 2022. He said: "Stephen has come an incredibly long way; the last 12 months of his coaching career, from being at Fylde this time last year, to taking us in the Championship, is incredible. He did a fantastic job.

 "Whilst I, and others at the club, were speaking to him throughout the interview process, we spoke to him about how he would like to settle in the club, if it wasn't to be his time this time.

"He was very much of the opinion that if it wasn't his time he would like to go back to taking the Development Squad again where they'd had such an exceptional year."