Ian Sampson to continue in assistant manager role for foreseeable future

Ian Sampson will continue in his role as Jon Brady’s number two for the foreseeable future having replaced Colin Calderwood on an interim basis in October.

The former Cobblers player and manager stepped up from his role with the academy to help Town’s coaching staff after Calderwood left to join Russell Martin’s backroom team at Championship side Southampton.

And although the club are still looking for a permanent replacement for Calderwood, with things currently going so well on the pitch after four wins in five League One games, chairman Kelvin Thomas sees no reason to rock the boat and make an imminent change.

He said: "Sammo has slotted in really well after replacing Colin as interim coach and I think everyone has seen that. It’s been a seamless transition and I think he’ll continue in that role for the longer term because it’s going really well.

"He provides a calmness to the group and he’s loved by the staff and he’s loved by the players and he supplements what Colin was doing and of course we’re really pleased to see Colin doing well at Southampton and we wish him well.

"We won't get carried away with this little run because as always there will be challenges ahead but Jon (Brady) and the lads have done phenomenally well and we’re proud of the way they have achieved results. It’s nice to see us in the top half when they show the table and I think we’ve surprised a lot of people, even some in our fanbase. We’ve proven we are competitive at this level.”