Wise Confirmed as Boss

By Rich B
October 26 2006

Dennis Wise has been confirmed as the Manager of Leeds United. Wise has also brought his assistant at Swindon Town, and former playing colleague, Gus Poyet to the club.

Wise's playing career really took of when he joined Chelsea in 1990 for £1.6m - a club record at the time and he went on to enjoy 11 years, winning the FA Cup twice, the League Cup and the Cup Winners Cup.

His time at Chelsea was not all fun and joy though - in 1995 he was convicted of assault of a taxi driver and had many disciplinary issues on the field. Known for a fiery temper and hard man image, Wise was never popular amongst rival fans!

In 2001, Wise moved to Leicester but the move didn;t work and in 2002 he was sacked by the club after he broke teammate Callum Davidsons jaw in a fight on their pre-season tour.

At this point, Wise moved into a managerial role, becomeing player manager for Millwall and steered the club to the FA Cup final (they lost 3-0 to Man Utd). It still provided the club with a place in Europe but they were unable toprogress past the first round.

Wise left Millwall citing differences with the board and joined Southampton and Coventry City respectively on short term deals.

In may of this year, Wise was appointed manager at Swindon Town and has taken the 2nd Division to side to third place, just three points fromt he top spot and having amounted 31 points from 15 games.

Wise's appointments is not without controvesy. He is not a popular choice with all Leeds fans although his obvious grit and determination to succeed is making him a natural choice for the troubled West Yorkshire side. his links with Chairman, Ken Bates is also well documented. Bates is god-father to one of Wise's children and thwe two are close away from the field.

Wise will be in charge for the game against Southend on Saturday.

Dennis Wise - Managerial Record

Team From To Games Won Lost Drawn
Swindon 22-05-2006 Present 17 9 3 5
Millwall 15-10-2003 09-05-2005 89 36 29 24