Barraclough: ‘The chairman would like me to replace Adkins’

Scunthorpe have acted swiftly to fill their managerial vacancy by appointing Ian Barraclough on a temporary basis with the view to a permanent appointment.

Nigel Adkins decision to take over at Southampton left the Championship side temporarily managerless but Scunthorpe chairman Steve Wharton has offered the job on a trial basis to Barraclough.

Barraclough was part of Nigel Adkins’ management team and told talkSPORT: “I spoke to the chairman and he put the ball firmly in my court. He said ‘I’d like you to be manager’ and it sits comfortably with him that if I was happy with it he would offer me the job.

“I think [the chairman’s] more than happy with the culture that’s been set at the club with the structure that we’ve created. I was a part of that in a three-man team. Obviously Nige (Adkins) and Andy Crosby have gone onto Southampton and I wish them all the very best in that but the chairman he wanted me to stay, that continuity to carry on. He thinks that we’ve got a chance, with me in charge, of staying in the Championship. I just hope I can prove him right.”

On whether he could have gone to Southampton he added: “It was something me and Nigel chatted about and it was something that appealed to me. It was always something that we’ve spoken about as a group. You tend to find that the strongest teams stick together and if that was going to come up then it was something that would appeal to me. There was a part of me that would definitely be interested in Southampton.”