Lincoln chiefs expected criticism for Cohen & Shaw

Jez George, left, and Liam Scully have worked together at Lincoln since 2018 [Getty Images] Lincoln City director of football Jez George insists the Championship club did not "do the easy thing" when appointing Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw to replace head coach Michael Skubala. The newly-promoted Imps named former assistant head coaches Shaw and Cohen in the role on the same day that Skubala's departure for Bristol City was announced. But George said the club had done their "due dilligence" and that the speed of the decision was designed to remove uncertainty as Lincoln head into a first season of second-tier football in 65 years. "It wasn't a case of do the easy thing, but it was absolutely the right thing for the club," he told BBC Radio Lincolnshire. "There was enough of a challenge and enough uncertainty as to what next season looks like without creating uncertainty within the staff and within the players. "We knew straightaway when we made this decision what it's going to look like externally, and we knew externally what criticism we're going to get. "But sometimes you just have to think what's right for this club internally, what's right for our players, what's right for our staff." 'It feels normal' - Cohen & Shaw on Imps double act Joint-bosses: can Lincoln succeed where Liverpool failed? Lincoln can compete despite small budget - George George believed appointing one as head coach over the other would have "caused more upheaval" and dismissed comparisons with the shared tenure of Gerard Houllier and Roy Evans at Liverpool. "It's not like Roy Evans and Gerard Houllier at Liverpool where one's been at the club for 40 years, one's new on his first day, one's already been the manager, one joins," he said. "Maybe they've had one meeting, culturally different backgrounds. These guys have been working together day-in and day-out for the last two-and-a-half years." Director of football Liam Scully said the appointment had also helped the club stave off interest from other clubs in the pair. "Chris and Tom are very well sought after in football and the first message I got was 'well that's how you take them both off the market'," he said. "It's no secret how much interest they've both had and how many opportunities they have to move away from this club in a range of different roles." 'It's not going to be a personality transplant' Scully said promotion to the Championship had led the club to "calibrate our appetite for risk". But he emphasised that there would be no "personality transplant" in terms of the club's balanced approach to achieving within its means as they look to strengthen the squad for the higher level. "If we take zero risk I don't think that's in the short or long-term interest of the club, or if we take off the safety catch and go gung-ho, that isn't in the club's interest either," he said. The Imps are in the midst of huge change off the pitch, too, with almost £10m of upgrades to the stadium ongoing. It left the club needing to complete "36 weeks' worth of work in 14 weeks" but Scully said that the works are on time so far and hitting budget. Plans to expand its Elite Performance Centre have also been submitted to improve facilities for players and staff. "Every day there's a big decision and it is incredibly exciting, but equally we're not frivolous with this," added Scully. "Everything has a business plan, everything has a reason and a rationale. "We are having to upgrade the stadium for the Championship standards, but equally [chairman] Ron [Fowler]'s vision and how he wants the stadium to look and feel for the fans is incredibly important as well and we've got to deliver that."