Manager Profile

When new investor Bill Power joined the Town board late in the 2005/06 season, it seemed that the board were set to allow Iffy Onuora to remain as manager into the following season, despite the Town's relegation to League Two. Within a fortnight of the season's end though, things turned full circle - firstly indicating that Onuora would have to effectively reapply for his position - and ultimately by appointing Wise, an ex-England international, as the club's new player-manager. Wise's only previous managerial role was at Millwall, whom he led to an FA Cup Final and into the UEFA Cup, despite only being a second tier club.

Wise immediately implemented a strict, professional regime at the County Ground, including a gruelling but scientific pre-season programme, focused on the individual players' fitness. The effects were evident on the pitch - the Town won their opening six games of the season, and Wise picked up the Manager of the Month award for August - the feel good factor started to bring the crowds back, with the Town sitting at the top of the League Two attendance table as well as the league itself.

Despite this, just when it appeared the club was getting its house in order after years of mis-management, it became apparent that all was not well after all. When Power withdrew his investment in September - officially citing health reasons after he punctured both lungs in a plane crash sustained whilst travelling back from the Town's opening day game at Hartlepool - rumours spread that a power struggle was taking place in the boardroom, and though the board forcefully denied the rumours, they did little to dispel them - firstly by openly criticising chief executive Mark Devlin (who had also been involved in the crash) for overspending on the budget, and then by slamming the Supporters' Trust just days after a joint statement had been issued by both parties, following a meeting that had been called to clear the air between fans groups and the club. Wise himself was caught in the cross-fire - and after non-executive director Bob Holt made public details of a private meeting - Wise made his displeasure known, branding Holt's actions as "out of order", and Holt resigned as a result. The meeting in question concerned speculation regarding Wise's future at Swindon - after the Town's great start, the manager's position at Leeds became available, and with former Chelsea chief Ken Bates now in charge at Elland Road, Wise was an obvious candidate. According to Holt, Wise had pledged his immediate future to Swindon during the meeting.

During the off-the-field troubles, the Town's form seemed to take a dip - going on a five game streak without a win, though four of the games were drawn, and with the good start to the season, they never slipped out of the top three. The Leeds rumours seemed to cool for a period, until the end of October, when after the Town returned to winning ways with victories over Grimsby and Shrewsbury, Leeds made an official approach. At first, the Town board agreed to the approach, and then rejected it after the offer was deemed to be unacceptable. Eventually, compensation was agreed, and Wise left Swindon along with his assistant Gus Poyet, just five months into their three year contracts - admitting that the goings-on behind the scenes had played a part in their departure. In his final interview with the Advertiser, Wise praised Power and Devlin, but commented that one reason for his swift exit was that he found it "very difficult to work with an unnamed individual connected with the Town".

Managerial Record

Career details

Club	Details
Bellevue Bellevue	(youth)
Southampton Southampton	1981 (schoolboy) 1983 (apprentice); released (1985)
Queens Park Rangers Q.P.R.	1985 (trial)
Crystal Palace Crystal Palace	1985 (trial)
Wimbledon Wimbledon	March 28th, 1985 (unattached); transferred out (July 3rd, 1990)
Grebbestads IF Grebbestad	July 1985 (loan); expired (October 1985)
Chelsea Chelsea	July 3rd, 1990 (transferred in , £1,600,000 ); transferred out (June 23rd, 2001)
Leicester City Leicester City	June 23rd, 2001 (transferred in , £1,600,000 ); released (rptd August 2nd, 2002)
Millwall Millwall	September 24th, 2002 (unattached) October 15th, 2003 (appointed player-manager); resigned (May 8th, 2005)
Southampton Southampton	August 3rd, 2005 (announced June 27th, 2005) (unattached); released (rptd December 26th, 2005) December 2nd, 2005 (appointed player-caretaker assistant manager); replaced (rptd December 23rd, 2005)
Coventry City Coventry City	January 19th, 2006 (unattached); released (2005/6)
Swindon Town Swindon	May 22nd, 2006 (appointed player-manager); resigned (October 24th, 2006)
Leeds United Leeds United	October 25th, 2006 (appointed manager, compensation Swindon received one years' salary as compensation); resigned (January 28th, 2008)
Newcastle United Newcastle United	rptd January 29th, 2007 (appointed executive director); resigned (rptd April 4th, 2009)
Como Como	rptd May 9th, 2019 (appointed technical consultant) February 2021 (appointed director); resigned (rptd July 25th, 2024)