Ball top of the list to replace Hodgson

8:47am Monday 2nd October 2006

KEVIN Ball was last night being lined up to replace suspended Darlington Football Club manager David Hodgson.

Former Sunderland captain Ball has emerged as the leading candidate to succeed Hodgson, who was suspended by the club on Saturday, while an internal inquiry is conducted by Quakers chairman George Houghton.

The inquiry is understood to centre on alleged contact between Hodgson and League One club Bournemouth, as well as Darlington's disappointing run of results since the start of the season.

Last Friday, Hodgson told The Northern Echo there had been contact between the boards of Bournemouth and Darlington over the vacant manager's job.

He was suspended on Saturday morning as the Quakers launched an investigation into whether Hodgson had spoken to Bournemouth without permission.

A statement released by Quakers on Saturday confirmed that Mr Houghton would be considering "a range of issues relating to the performance of the club and the background to open speculation concerning another football club's contacts with the manager".

A hastily-arranged board meeting took place on Friday, shortly after Darlington drew with Grimsby Town at the 96.6TFM Darlington Arena.

As a consequence, Hodgson was informed in a letter on Saturday morning that he was suspended for two weeks, with immediate effect.

While he will plead his innocence over the alleged talks with Bournemouth, The Northern Echo understands Hodgson is unlikely to be returning to Darlington, paving the way for the Quakers board to make an official approach for Ball, who is assistant academy director at Sunderland .

In his only managerial role, Ball was caretaker boss of Sunderland last season following the sacking of Mick McCarthy in March.

The Wearsiders lost seven of the ten games under his tenure as they were relegated from the Premiership.

Hodgson's imminent exit comes almost three years after he returned to Darlington for a third managerial spell.

In his first season, Hodgson steered the club clear of relegation, as well as playing a major role in saving Quakers from financial ruin by arranging several fundraising events.

After the club came out of administration in September 2004, he guided Quakers to two consecutive eighth-placed finishes in League Two.

In March, Mr Houghton succeeded Stewart Davies as club chairman and insisted there was no better man for the Darlington job than Hodgson.

With an improved budget and the arrival of several impressive new signings during the summer, hopes were high for the new season.

However, Hodgson's relationship with Quakers' board has become increasingly strained in recent months.

His future was thrown into doubt in July, a fortnight before the new season, after a fall-out with new chief executive Jon Sotnick, which led to Hodgson believing he had been sacked.

The pair clashed again last month, leading Mr Houghton to diffuse the situation, insisting harmony had been restored after Mr Sotnick was caught jeering Hodgson's decision to substitute club record signing Julian Joachim.

But, after reported interest from Bournemouth and only two wins from their last ten league games, Mr Sotnick will meet Houghton and other board members this week to discuss Hodgson's future.

Player-coach Neil Maddison has been placed in temporary charge of team affairs.

Hodgson declined to comment over the weekend.