By Matt Smith
October 20 2015

Former Rotherham manager Steve Evans was the surprise announcement as new Leeds United manager yesterday, following the sacking of Uwe Rosler after just 12 games in charge. It would be fair to say that Mr Evans isn't the most popular football manager on the planet, but who is the man behind the sombrero?

Evans was born in 1962 in Glasgow, Scotland and the feisty nature of the city clearly rubbed off on his personality. The new Leeds boss played as a striker for several Scottish clubs, including Hamilton Academical and St. Johnstone, where he was forced to end his career at the age of 24 after a severe knee-ligament injury. Evans' most successful period came during his time at Albion Rovers between 1981 and 1984, scoring 28 goals in 76 games.

He had 8 years out of the game before taking up his first managerial post at lowly Stamford, then in the ninth tier of English football. In four years he took them to their division title and promotion to the Southern Football League before leaving for Boston United in 1998.

Evans remained at Boston until 2002, successfully guiding them from the Southern Football League to the Football Conference and subsequently to The Football League. However things went a bit pear-shaped for our new manager from here and his achievements were over-shadowed by accusations of off-the-field 'contract irregularities' that led to his suspension in 2002.

He was suspended for 20 months by the FA but returned to the Boston hot-seat in 2004 where his mouth and aggression got him in trouble several times on the pitch leading to the Boston chairman claiming there was 'a conspiracy against his manager'. In 2007 Evans was found guilty of tax evasion, fined £1,000 and given a 1-year suspended sentence.

Evans final season at Boston ended in relegation from League Two following a defeat against Wrexham during severe financial troubles at the club. He joined Crawley Town two days after resigning as Boston United manager at the end of the 2006/7 season.

The new Crawley Town boss enjoyed unprecedented success at the club despite more disciplinary problems. In the 2008/9 season Evans faced a 10 game touchline ban after being repeatedly sent from the dug-out. Crawley Town found masses of new financial investment and subsequently won promotion to League Two in 2011, following an impressive FA Cup run that saw them narrowly beaten 1-0 by Manchester United in the fifth round. 

Evans left Crawley in April 2012 to join fellow League Two side Rotherham United even though Crawley were in prime position for promotion. After missing out on promotion in 2012, Rotherham were elevated to League One by Evans in 2012/13, finishing in the automatic promotion places. He then led Rotherham to a second successive promotion into the Championship, defeating Leyton Orient 4-3 on penalties following a 2-2 draw in the play-off final. 

Rotherham struggled in the Championship, narrowly avoiding relegation. They were safe just in time for Evans to fulfil his promise of wearing a sombrero, t shirt and shorts to none other than Elland Road on the final day of last season, enhancing his place in the hearts of Leeds United fans...

Evans ironically quipped in October 2014 that he could never work for an owner who interfered in squad selection and transfers like Leeds owner Massimo Cellino, referring to Leeds United as a "sinking ship like Titanic" and "not a big club".

Evans left Rotherham early this season, being replaced by none other than former Leeds boss Neil Redfearn. Cellino announced Steve Evans as new Leeds United boss on the 19th October 2015, his 6th boss since the takeover. Evans referred to Leeds as a "humongous club" in his first press conference and didn't envisage any problems working with the now banned Italian Cellino. Although he did state that "the day the owner picks the team is the day I leave the club".

We think that could be sooner rather than later.

So there it is. Everything you need to know about our new boss, we've already got our Malky Mackay piece ready to post on December 21st...

Who is Steve Evans?

Discussion started by The Mighty Whites (IP Logged), 20/10/2015 17:15

The Mighty Whites
20/10/2015 17:15

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