Nathan Rooney in contention for Grimsby manager's job after Paul Hurst sacking

02 November 2023 , 06:00

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Bruno's Magpies head coach Nathan Rooney is under consideration for the vacancy at Grimsby Town (Image: REX/Shutterstock)

Nathan Rooney is emerging as one of the leading contenders to succeed Paul Hurst as the new head coach of League Two outfit Grimsby Town.

The Mariners have started the process of identifying suitable candidates for the Blundell Park vacancy after parting company with Hurst, 49, at the weekend following a 1-0 loss against Doncaster Rovers.

Rooney has enjoyed significant success in Gibraltar with Bruno's Magpies and has also held coaching roles in the EFL with Blackburn Rovers, Fleetwood Town, Carlisle and Crawley Town.

And Mirror Football understands that the highly-rated 34-year-old, who has roots in Lancashire, is viewed internally as somebody who can turn Grimsby's fortunes around with a progressive approach which has won plenty of plaudits overseas.

During his time in Gibraltar, Rooney has won three different cup finals with the Magpies - including the Rock Cup for the first time in their history - while also qualifying for the Europa Conference League twice on a shoestring budget.

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While the process to source Hurst's successor is still in its primary stages, whoever is given the nod to replace him will be tasked with reinvigorating a side who have won just one of their last 10 league matches.

Hurst, who guided Grimsby to promotion via the National League play-offs in the 2021/22 campaign, was dismissed with the club languishing in 21st place. Grimsby chair Jason Stockwood has since revealed that the decision to sack Hurst was not one the club hierarchy took lightly.

Grimsby sacked former manager Paul Hurst at the weekend (Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA)

He told BBC Radio Humberside: “We've been talking at length for the past two weeks in particular. The performances haven't been bad but there's something which isn't in the data which tells us that we're not getting the rub of the green, so we feel like it's time to turn the page.

“The underlying performances are not that bad, but actually that doesn't equate to positioning in the league. We're in a challenging position. I feel confident we've got the right players in the team and enough quality but there's something not quite working.

“There has to come a point where you go 'We need to change our own luck somehow, we can't just hope for the luck to change itself.'"

Dan Marsh