Rob Kelly

For the American football player, see Rob Kelly (American football).

Rob Kelly

Personal information
Full name	Robert Anthony "Rob" Kelly
Date of birth	21 December 1964 (1964-12-21)
Place of birth	Birmingham, England
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Nottingham Forest (assistant manager)
Youth career
1981–1984	Leicester City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1984–1986	Leicester City	24	(1)
1984–1985	→Tranmere Rovers (loan)	5	(2)
1986–1989	Wolverhampton Wanderers	16	(2)
1989–	Burton Albion	?	(?)
Total		45	(5)
Teams managed
2006–2007	Leicester City
2007	Preston North End (caretaker)
2009–2010	Preston North End (caretaker)
2011	Sheffield Wednesday (caretaker)
2011	Nottingham Forest (caretaker)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Robert Anthony "Rob" Kelly (born 21 December 1964) is an English former footballer and manager. Recently caretaker manager at Nottingham Forest, after Steve McClaren's departure and prior to the appointment of Steve Cotterill. He has previously been manager of Leicester City, and caretaker manager at Preston North End and Sheffield Wednesday.

Playing career

Kelly began his career at Leicester City, making his debut as a 19-year-old in a home game against Sunderland at the end of the 1983/84 season. After making 18 starts for the Foxes (plus nine substitute appearances) and scoring one goal, he joined Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1986. As a youngster, he also received a call up to represent the Republic of Ireland at youth level.

Coaching career

In 1989, Kelly was forced to retire aged just 24 after sustaining a back injury, and initially took the job of youth team coach at Wolves. He then trained as a journalist at the Wolverhampton Express & Star, before returning to football, first back in the Wolves coaching set-up, then moving to Watford as youth team coach, Blackburn Rovers as Academy Director, and then Leicester City.

After the sacking of Leicester manager Craig Levein, following 18 months in charge, Kelly stepped up from his Assistant Manager role to take control on a caretaker basis.

In his first ten games in charge his team took 21 points from a possible 30, steering the side up the Championship table and away from the threat of relegation to League One. He was awarded the Championship Manager of the Month award for March 2006. This followed wins over relegation rivals Hull City and Millwall, as well as victory against Luton Town and a creditable draw against Premiership-bound Reading. In recognition of his achievements, on 14 April 2006 he signed a one-year rolling contract, confirming his status as manager.

On 11 April 2007 Kelly was sacked due to a poor run of results, his final game being a 3–0 defeat away to Plymouth Argyle. He was replaced by Nigel Worthington until the end of the season.

In May 2007 he joined Preston North End as part of the club's coaching staff. On 13 November 2007 he stepped up from his position as Assistant Manager to become Caretaker Manager, after the sacking of manager Paul Simpson. Kelly spent just a week in the temporary position, and didn't oversee any first team action, as Alan Irvine was appointed as the Club's new manager on 20 November 2007, with Kelly reverting to his role as assistant.

Kelly again acted as Caretaker Manager following the departure of Alan Irvine in December 2009, a 7–0 FA Cup win over Colchester being his only game in charge. He left the club following the appointment of Darren Ferguson as manager, only to be re-united with Alan Irvine at Sheffield Wednesday, once more as Assistant Manager.

In February 2011 Kelly was appointed Caretaker Manager at Wednesday following the departure of Irvine, but left the club after Gary Megson was appointed as manager and made changes to the coaching staff.

Kelly joined Nottingham Forest as assistant manager to Steve McClaren in the summer of 2011, only to find himself as Caretaker Manager again in less than three months when McClaren resigned on 2 October after a dispute with the club's board. Steve Cotterill was appointed the club's new manager on 14 October, though Kelly remained in caretaker charge of the team until the following day, when he managed the team to a defeat by Coventry City. Following that match, Kelly reverted to being the club's assistant manager.

Managerial statistics

As of 13 November 2007.

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	Win %
Leicester City		25 January 2006	11 April 2007	63	21	19	23	33.3
Preston North End (caretaker)		13 November 2007	20 November 2007	0	0	0	0	—
Preston North End (caretaker)		29 December 2009	6 January 2010	1	1	0	0	100.0
Sheffield Wednesday (caretaker)		3 February 2011	4 February 2011	0	0	0	0	—
Nottingham Forest (caretaker)		2 October 2011	15 October 2011	1	0	0	1	0.0

External links

• Official club profile
• Rob Kelly management career stats at Soccerbase