Ex-Coventry and MK Dons man Carl Baker embarks on coaching career - and will manage fellow Portsmouth League Two title-winner

And he’ll be overseeing a team-mate from Pompey’s League One title-winning team.

Baker has been announced as assistant manager of AFC Telford United, working with boss Paul Carden.

The midfielder quit Nuneaton Borough to make the switch, with the evergreen 38-year-old having skippered them for large parts of the current campaign.

However, the lure to advance his coaching ambitions has now seen him arrive at Telford, who are bottom of National League North.

It also reunites him with ex-Blues team-mate Kyle Bennett.

The duo were regulars in Pompey’s 2016-17 promotion season under Paul Cook, which culminated in that memorable final day against Cheltenham.

Baker made 46 appearances and scored nine times during that campaign, while Bennett featured 44 times and weighed in with six goals.

As pivotal performers in that season, they are assured of their presence in Fratton folklore.

Since then, Bennett has represented Bristol Rovers, Grimsby and, in August, joined home-town club Telford.

The winger’s latest appearance for the Bucks was as a substitute in Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat to AFC Fylde, which cost interim manager Dennis Greene his job.

In turn, that opened the door for Baker to assist Carden as the new-look management team striving to preserve Telford’s National League North status.

Baker already runs his own Academy in the Midlands, while his son, Louis, is on the books of Nuneaton Borough.

Remarkably, the pair have featured in the same side this season for the Southern League Premier Central division club.

Baker isn’t the only member of that title-winning team to try his luck in coaching as playing days wind down.

Ex-Pompey skipper Michael Doyle is presently assistant boss at National League side Notts County.

Although still registered as a player, the 40-year-old has this season focused on coaching.

Doyle, who was back at Fratton Park on Friday evening to attend the delayed book launches of Played Up Pompey Three and Pompey: The Island City With A Football Club For A Heart, was still playing regularly up until the end of last season.

In the 2020-21 campaign, the combative midfielder featured 39 times, scoring once.

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