Ilkeston Town have announced that they have appointed Manchester City legend Shaun Goater as their new manager.
Between 1998 and 2003, the former Bermudan striker became a cult hero on the blue half of Manchester as he scored 103 goals in 212 appearances in all competitions, and it has now been revealed that he has joined the managerial ladder in English football.
The Northern Premier League side had earlier announced that Paul Holland had stepped down from his role in the dugout, but the Derbyshire-based club quickly revealed that Goater had been placed in charge until the end of the season.
A club statement read: "Ilkeston FC are excited to announce they have secured the services of ex Manchester City Legend Shaun Goater. Goater has agreed to step in and take over the reins of first-team manager as the Robins strive to arrest the poor run of results.
"Shaun is excited about the difficult challenge over the next 10 weeks or so, stating he is a great believer in helping young talent to develop. He is confident he can step in and help the Robins youngsters get a little more organised and push on from the excellent performance the other night against Coalville Town. Like he says its a tough ask to get to safety, but there are still a lot of points still to play for and games against teams around the bottom of the NPL Premier division.
"He has watched Ilkeston's progress over the last few seasons, in fact he was at Curzon Ashton as a guest of the club in the Play off Final two seasons ago. His interest has been drawn now that we have several Bermudian players at the club. What Shaun he wants now is to get into football management, being a student of the game he loves nothing more than dropping in to watch the top coaches in action.
"He sees Ilkeston as an opportunity to experiment with his experience and new ideas. He is looking forward to getting really involved in football as a manager. He has had his ups and downs in the game and is eager to share his knowledge with the Ilkeston youngsters."
Ilkeston currently sit in 23rd position and 12 points adrift of safety in the Northern Premier League, which is the seventh tier of the English football pyramid.
Darren Plant
