By Matt Badcock
Lee Sinnott says he’s not fazed by taking on his first manager’s job in nearly two years – and is convinced Gainsborough Trinity can climb clear of the National League North relegation zone.
The 52-year-old was appointed as Dave Frecklington’s successor just hours after he was interviewed by the club.
Sinnott brings a wealth of experience to the role, having managed in the Football League with Port Vale and in Non-League with Farsley Celtic, Bradford PA and, most recently, Altrincham.
His near five years at Alty can be considered a success after he guided them to promotion back into Non-League’s top tier where he kept them up and also to a famous FA Cup first round upset over then-League One Barnsley.
Potential
After more than 200 games at the helm, he left in March 2016 and hasn’t been back in a No.1 job until now.
But Sinnott points out that he had a similar rest before he took the Altrincham job and if he can replicate the formula then Trinity won’t go far wrong.
“I had a break before Altrincham, I enjoyed the break, but there comes a time where you start to get really itchy feet,” Sinnott told The NLP. “I’ve had that for a few months now.
“But you have to wait. It’s not like there’s 50 of these jobs every week, so you have to bide your time. I’m delighted to go to Gainsborough. I’ve always thought they’re a club with potential, a nice ground, in an area where they’re not too far away from other cities and towns so I’ve always thought it had potential.
“I’ve brought John Reed on board as assistant manager, he brings a vast amount of experience with him, and since the appointment I’ve been catching up on a lot of things with video.
“Not everything stays the same, but many things do. There are some ambitious clubs in this league. We cut our cloth accordingly and play to what we can do.”
Priority
Joining Sinnott at Northolme is the vastly experienced John Reed, who has left his assistant manager post at Shaw Lane to take up the same role.
While getting points on the board quickly is a priority for the struggles, Sinnott welcomes an enforced break this weekend to work on a plan to move away from the drop zone.
“It’s very much learning very quickly,” Sinnott said. “It’s not like coming in in the close season, there’s two months left, 12 games. We’re not in the position we want to be in, that goes without saying, but you look at the table and 12th position is six points away. There’s a lot of clubs looking over their shoulders. It’s where you are after the 42nd game, not the 29th.”
