'It feels normal' - Cohen & Shaw on Imps double act

"Who's going to make the subs? It's what everyone says to us."

Even before the subject could be raised, Chris Cohen knew exactly what would be asked of him and Tom Shaw after the pair of them took on the Lincoln City head coach job as a double act.

Managing in tandem remains a peculiarity despite it being far from unique in the English game - with high-profile joint-bosses employed at Liverpool and Tottenham in the 1990s after the twosome of John Sillett and George Curtis delivered FA Cup glory for Coventry City in 1987.

Still, Cohen readily acknowledges that "from the outside looking in, it's not normal".

But while it might not be the "normal situation", as Cohen freely doubled down on when talking about how it might work, the former Nottingham Forest and West Ham midfielder is confident about the jobshare arrangement.

As far as the two of them are concerned, stepping up together to replace Michael Skubala - who left to take over at Championship rivals Bristol City - was natural after working together as assistant coaches under their predecessor.

"We feel like it is really normal and we just continue to do what we did last year with a few added bits, or a lot of added bits, that Michael did," Cohen told BBC Radio Lincolnshire.

Shaw adds that there will be parts of the combined role that he and Cohen will have to learn to get to grips with as they take a unique approach to leading Lincoln into their first season in the second tier for 65 years.

"There are obvious bits that we do extra now, and we will share that out," Shaw said.

"Over time, we'll decide who's a little bit better or a little bit more appropriate for certain parts of the role, but the football side will be very similar, if not the same.

"We're going into a higher challenge on the football pitch, which is going to be tough at times, but also really exciting."

Shaw and Cohen, both 39, played a major part in Lincoln's promotion in 2025-26 as assistant coaches who regularly oversaw training sessions and led in meetings.

Helping get the Imps up as League One title winners, with a points tally of 103, was the crowning achievement for a tightly-bound coaching team that was knitted together by Skubala.

And that is why both Cohen and Shaw reacted with "excitement" when the idea of taking over as joint head coaches was presented to them by the club's hierarchy.

"We've become incredibly close over the last few years, driving in together, and I spend a lot more time with Tom than I do with my wife," Cohen said.

"We've had an unbelievable journey together as a pair of coaches.

"The club's been incredible to us from day one - me for three years and Tom for nine years - and the journey that we all went on together last year as a footy club was amazing.

"We're just hopeful that we can continue to progress the club as best we can."

Shaw also says the years spent together, on the training pitch and while carpooling, have fostered a profound understanding of one another.

"We know what each other looks for in a football team, in a football player, in a training session," Shaw said.

"We trust each other a lot - trust each other in our decision making, trust each other as blokes and as men."

And so, how does that trust, understanding and the title-winning contributions they made as assistant coaches together help when it comes to making the the call during a game on what player might be called upon for a sustituation?

Turns out that the answer might be about disagreeing at times.

"We do agree with the way football should look, we agree with loads of principles, and loads of behaviours, but we clash all the time," Cohen said.

"We sit in this room and we clash from Monday to Friday on what the right thing is to do, but the moment that we walk out of this room we're united on that decision, and we'll stick by it.

"From the outside looking in it doesn't feel logical but, when you actually talk through and walk through what we do, it is completely logical, and we just make the best decisions together.

"We're going to get loads wrong and hopefully get loads right, but we'll do it together we'll stand together - and if it's right, we'll live it together and if it's wrong, we'll live it together.

"There's not going to be a point where I'm going say 'Tom did this and I thought this' or anything like that, it's just never been in our nature.

"We'll back each other to the hilt and we back the group to the hilt."