Portsmouth title-winner and ex-Swindon and Oxford man's first management role ends after disappointing three months

Danny Rose's first foray into football management has ended in disappointment.

The former Pompey title-winner has been dismissed as assistant boss at struggling Darlington after just three months in the job.

When Josh Gowling was appointed as the National League North side’s manager in September, their ex-player Rose was named as his right-hand man.

However, Gowling was sacked following a Boxing Day defeat against Scarborough Athletic, ending a 98-day spell in charge which reaped three wins in 16 matches.

That included an 8-0 humiliation at Chorley, a 4-0 defeat at Tamworth, and a 2-0 home loss to bottom-of-the-table Bishop’s Stortford, despite signing 13 players.

Rose remained as caretaker boss to oversee the reverse fixture, this time travelling to Scarborough, ending in a 1-0 defeat as they remained second from bottom.

That proved to be his sole match in charge, with former Gateshead boss Steve Watson unveiled as the new man at Darlington’s helm on New Year’s Eve.

It would signal Rose’s departure, with Terry Mitchell, a former Workington manager, appointed as Watson’s number two.

Probably inevitably, the new-look management team’s first match would produce a 1-0 victory at relegation rivals King’s Lynn Town on Saturday, courtesy of a stoppage-time winner.

Rose had announced his retirement at the age of 35 and quit Northern Premier League East Division club Cleethorpes in September in order to take on the Darlington challenge.

He was formerly a player-coach with the Quakers, making 46 appearances, before leaving for Cleethorpes last summer.

The midfielder enjoyed a fine playing career which consisted of five promotions, memorably among them the League Two title with Pompey in 2016-17.

Marking his first Fratton Park season, Rose made 40 appearances and scored five times as Paul Cook’s men captured the league on the final day with a 6-1 demolition of Cheltenham.

He went on to total 64 games during two-and-a-half years on the south coast, before leaving for Swindon in January 2019.

Rose later won the League Two title with the Robins in 2019-20, before turning out for Grimsby, Darlington and Cleethorpes.