Dismal run and unconvincing victories cost Lindsey his job at MK Dons

Unconvincing performances, data and even victories culminated in MK Dons’ decision to sack Scott Lindsey earlier this month.

A run of two wins in 16 games saw Dons plummet from third at the start of December to 17th in League Two by the time the club opted to pull the trigger, sending the former Crawley Town man packing after just five months in charge.

Lindsey was Dons’ first choice replacement when Mike Williamson opted for Carlisle at the end of September, and initially saw an upturn in results, with six league wins in a row firing them up the table. But the wheels fell off in dramatic fashion over the Christmas period and into 2025.

Winning only two games since the turn of the year, Lindsey was given his marching orders after the 1-0 defeat to Colchester United a little under three weeks ago.

Explaining the decision, chief executive Neil Hart said with worsening performances during the final three months, even the two wins against Chesterfield and Harrogate were unconvincing and not enough to help Lindsey stay in his post.

“It is never easy, having to do that,” he told the Citizen. “We all wanted Scott to be hugely successful. He came with a great track record, we really liked him and really supported him and his team. We wanted it to succeed, but it didn't.

“Results were poor, very very poor. The data within the results were equally not where we wanted them to be. We picked up two wins over that period against Chesterfield and Harrogate, and none of them were convincing.

“We had to make a difficult decision. It's never nice to have to do that, but we had to do what was in the best interests of the football club.”

Giving the head coach the January transfer window to add to his squad, some quarters of the fanbase felt the former boss deserved more time to see his new additions bed into the mix, but Hart felt the team was sliding dangerously towards the foot of the table, and felt he had to make the decision when he did.

He continued: “I can see both sides of it. When Scott came in, we got up to third which was brilliant and we were all super positive. Since then, it has been a decline and we've all felt frustrated by it.

“The cold face of it is that we want to move forwards, we're ambitious, have invested in the team and we have to deliver results. We just felt we have to make a change.”