The experienced Russell Slade has agreed terms to take over as the new Hereford Manager.
Slade arrives at Edgar Street with a wealth of management and coaching experience under his belt, including spells at Cardiff City, Brighton & Hove Albion, Charlton Athletic, Leyton Orient, Yeovil Town and Grimsby Town.
Having agreed a deal to take charge at Edgar Street, Russell has been introduced to the Bulls’ playing squad at tonight’s training session, as the players continue their preparations for Saturday’s home game against Boston United.
Slade, 58, has picked up the League One Manager of the Year Award on two occasions. First as manager at Yeovil Town in the 2006/7 season, and again in the 2013/14 season whilst boss at Leyton Orient.
His first managerial appointment was at Scarborough with the club bottom of the Football Conference. However, a remarkable run of 39 points from the final 19 games of the season meant Scarborough finished 12th. He was hailed as a hero by the fans and his stock rose when taking the team to 4th position by Christmas in the 2002/3 season. In January 2003, two days after the club went into administration, Slade tendered his resignation. The fans presented a tearful Slade with a petition at the next game and on the Monday morning he changed his mind.
The following season saw mixed league performances, but a tremendous FA Cup run which saw victories over Hinckley United, Doncaster Rovers, Port Vale and finally Southend United following a replay, meant a glamorous home tie in front of Premier League Chelsea. Despite losing 1–0 Slade’s side put up a tremendous battle.
At the end of the 2003/4 season, Grimsby Town decided to appoint Slade as their new manager. A mid-table finish ensued in the 2004/5 season but despite some disgruntled fans calling for his head, Grimsby spent most of the 2005/6 campaign in an automatic promotion spot in League Two, also managing to topple both Derby County and Tottenham in the League Cup.
Town eventually finished the season in 4th place and had to settle for the playoffs, following a late Northampton Town equaliser meant that Leyton Orient would finish the season in the final automatic promotion places. Despite guiding his team to a semi-final victory over local rivals Lincoln, Slade was unable to secure promotion, Grimsby losing 1–0 in the final against Cheltenham in the Millennium Stadium.
Slade’s success with Grimsby had attracted League One side Yeovil , and he was appointed manager. Slade led Yeovil to a surprise 5th-place finish play-off finish in the league, where they defeated favourites Nottingham Forest to reach the play-off final. However, Yeovil lost the final against Blackpool 2–0. Slade’s successful first season at Yeovil saw him win the League One manager of the year award, and he was targeted by League One rivals Carlisle and Millwall but this interest was rejected by Yeovil chairman John Fry.
Slade left his post at Yeovil on 16 February 2009, despite having won four consecutive matches immediately prior to this. Slade had become frustrated with the club’s lack of ambition, although the club chairman John Fry had previously stated that changes would be needed due to the current economic climate.
On 6 March 2009, Slade was appointed manager of struggling Brighton until the end of the season, and succeeded in ensuring they avoided relegation from League One by beating Stockport 1–0 in the final game. Slade signed a further two-year contract at Brighton in May 2009.
Slade was appointed manager of Leyton Orient on 5 April 2010, six matches before the end of the season. The club was in danger of being relegated from League One, but Slade revived the club’s fortunes, helping Leyton Orient to take 10 points from their last six matches, resulting in them avoiding relegation by a single point. Slade was rewarded with a new two-year contract on 14 May and the following season he guided Orient to seventh place, one point outside the play-off places, as well as a fifth round replay at Arsenal in the FA Cup.
During the season, Orient chairman Barry Hearn rejected an approach from Barnsley for Slade. Leyton Orient were unable to match their previous year during the 2011–12 season and the club finished in 20th, but the next season Slade was able to guide them to another 7th-place finish.
Slade guided Orient to 3rd place finish in the 2013-14 season, seeing Orient finish within the Play-off spots. After beating Peterborough 3-2 in the semi finals, Orient lost the final to Rotherham United on penalties at Wembley.
On 6 October 2014, Slade was appointed manager of Championship side Cardiff City on a two-year contract, replacing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The job was the highest level that Slade had ever managed at; he had never previously managed above the third tier in the Football League. Slade was tasked with reducing the club’s wage bill which was still inflated due to relegation from the Premier League in the previous season. Seven first team players left the club in his first three months in charge. Slade became unpopular with a large section of supporters and crowd numbers fell dramatically during his tenure at the club as he finished 11th in his first season and 8th in his second. Despite his detractors, Slade insisted that the club had made progress under his stewardship and that he had “given the club stability”.
On 6 May 2016, Slade was removed from his position of manager and was instead named the club’s head of football. He took charge of his last match for the Bluebirds on the final day of the 2015–16 season, drawing 1–1 with Birmingham City. Paul Trollope, a member of Slade’s coaching staff was appointed as the new head coach of the club but did not report to Slade on any first team matters. However, he resigned from the role on 3 June.
On 6 June 2016, Slade signed a three-year contract to be manager of Charlton Athletic following their relegation to League One. On 14 November 2016 with the club in 15th place, the club announced that it had “parted company” with him having won 4 of the 16 games of the season.
On 21 December 2016, Slade signed a contract till the end of the season to be manager of Coventry City. Slade joined with the club sitting 23rd in the League One table amid protests by fans against the owners of the club. His first game in charge was a 4–1 defeat to Bristol Rovers on 26 December 2016.
In February 2017, he led Coventry to the final of the EFL Trophy after beating Wycombe Wanderers in the semi-final at the Ricoh Arena.
On 12 April 2017, Slade was appointed manager of Grimsby Town for the second time. Slade was sacked by Grimsby on 11 February 2018 after seeing the team fail to win in 12 league games, with eight losses, he left the team 17th in League Two.