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Interesting choice - themaclad - 24-12-2022
MK Dons have named Leeds United coach Mark Jackson as their new boss.
The 45-year-old replaces Liam Manning, who was sacked on 11 December with the team next to bottom of League One.
His first game in charge will be at home to Forest Green Rovers on Boxing Day, followed by trips to Peterborough United and current leaders Plymouth.
"The identity of the club fits with me. They want to dominate the ball and I can continue that but enhance it as well," Jackson said.
"We've got a lot of things to do in a short space of time, we know we have to impact things on the pitch.
"I've got ideas of how to do that and how I can tweak certain things. If we can get little things right then we can start to make progress on the pitch," he told BBC Three Counties Radio.
Of the past seven head coaches appointed by MK Dons, Jackson, who oversaw training on Friday, is the fourth to be given his first post in senior club management by them, following Karl Robinson (2010-2016), Dan Micciche (2018) and Russell Martin (2019-2021).
However, the length of his contract at Stadium: MK has not been disclosed.
The former Leeds and Scunthorpe United defender - who watched the Dons lose to Leicester in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday - was in charge of various age group sides at Elland Road before being promoted to first-team coach in March.
Speaking on Thursday, Leeds head coach Jesse Marsch said: "Jacko has been an absolute asset for me from the first day that I set foot into the building.
"He has done everything and more that I could have hoped, his passion, his commitment and his love of this club made him essential for me and for us in our quest to stay in the [Premier] league [last season]. I fully believe that without him we wouldn't have stayed in the league.
"I value him completely as a person and as a football mind."
Manning guided the Dons to a third-place finish and the League One play-offs last season after joining them from Belgian club Lommel in the summer of 2021, but they missed out on the chance of promotion after losing to Wycombe Wanderers over two legs.
The squad had to be rebuilt following a number of subsequent departures and they lost their first three league games of the season without scoring a goal.
Two wins in the next three pushed them up to 13th in the table by the end of August but they have been in the relegation places since a 2-1 defeat at Shrewsbury on 8 October.
"Whatever industry you're in it's about dealing with people and that's a big part of my leadership [style], I want to connect with people, I want to engage with people, I want to give people responsibility and ownership of what they do. I think I've got a skill-set that can do that," Jackson added.
"Ultimately, I'm judged on getting the team right but I see a process in that of developing each individual and making them better."
Mark Jackson
Mark Jackson played for Scunthorpe against Leeds in a 2003 FA Cup tie
Owner Pete Winkelman had promised that the club would be "brave" in their search for a new head coach, which was led by sporting director Liam Sweeting.
Winkelman told BBC Three Counties Radio: "It's always a traumatic thing, changing a manager. I had huge respect for Liam Manning and what he achieved last year.
"But we need a new voice, we needed a leader, but we also needed to maintain the exceptionally unique style that we have as a football club - it's what sets us apart.
"That was a big part of the process. Mark manages to tick all of those boxes and I gave him the job straight away at the interview."
Winkelman added: "He's very pragmatic about what we've got to do in the here and now. He's got an idea of what he's going to do in the short term that will make us more difficult to beat and hopefully give us more opportunities to score. It's those marginal changes that could make the difference in our results."
As a player, Jackson was given his Leeds first-team debut by then boss Howard Wilkinson in a 10 Premier League home defeat by Middlesbrough in March 1996.
He made 23 appearances for his hometown club but spent most of his career at a lower level, principally with Scunthorpe, where he played almost 160 games between 2000 and 2005.
Jackson 'seems like a good fit' - Analysis
BBC Three Counties Radio sports editor Geoff Doyle
Even though it will be Jackson's first head coach position this seems a good fit in terms of the management/coaching structure at MK Dons.
The comments of Leeds boss Jesse Marsch were interesting, with the American believing Leeds would have been relegated last season without Jackson. That experience is certainly going to help him as he now fights relegation in League One.
The Dons are in the bottom four and have lost 13 of 21 League One games.
Jackson is likely to need reinforcements in the January transfer window and his knowledge of the top academy players in the country - having worked with Leeds Under-23s for two years - could prove to be very handy.
RE: Interesting choice now potted - themaclad - 09-05-2023
MK Dons have sacked head coach Mark Jackson following the club's relegation to League Two.
Jackson's reign lasted less than five months, having been appointed as Liam Manning's successor in December 2022.
The 45-year-old left his position as Leeds United first-team coach to lead Dons' battle against relegation but registered just six wins in 25 games.
His assistant Robbie Stockdale has also left the club, who were relegated following Sunday's 0-0 draw at Burton.
Jackson, whose length of contract was not revealed when he joined the club, had said he wanted to remain as manager for next season immediately after that game.
However, a short Dons statement on Tuesday confirmed his departure, thanking Jackson, Stockdale and analyst Aaron Dagger, who is also leaving the club, "for their efforts during their time at Stadium MK".
Jackson unable to arrest Dons' slide
Jackson had spent more than seven years at Leeds - as manager of the academy, under-18s and under-23s - before being promoted to the first team set-up by Jesse Marsch in March 2022.
However, his first spell as a number one did not go to plan as he was unable to arrest the Dons' surprising slide.
MK finished third in League One in 2021-22, missing out on automatic promotion by one point and losing to Wycombe over two legs in the play-off semi-finals, but their downturn this season has been stark.
They sat 22nd in the table when Jackson took charge just before Christmas but he oversaw two wins over bottom side Forest Green Rovers in December and January to lift them out of the relegation places.
However, they then lost six of their next nine to drop back into the bottom four before three successive 1-0 wins against relegation rivals Cambridge, Accrington and Morecambe moved them back up to 19th.
But Jackson was unable to muster another win as Dons drew six of their final eight games - including surrendering a 4-1 lead to draw 4-4 with Barnsley - to go down by a point on the final day.
It's no real surprise to see Mark Jackson leave Milton Keynes Dons.
Many fans will talk about the summer recruitment as the real reason for failure this season and in part that's warranted. I'm not alone in asking just how a club can be on the brink of promotion to the Championship and then be relegated to League Two within a calendar year? All parties must take responsibility for that, Jackson included.
The former Leeds man had 25 games to turn things around and only managed six wins. Two of those were against Forest Green Rovers, who finished cut adrift at the bottom of the table.
He did manage three wins on the spin in March that raised hopes the corner was turned but finished the season without a win in the final eight games. I think Jackson himself would find it hard to fight his corner in these circumstances.
It is important though to make sure that Jackson alone doesn't carry the can for relegation. Sporting director Liam Sweeting and chairman Pete Winkelman have got a lot wrong this season and are just as much to blame as Jackson is. It would be hard for either of them to argue against that.