Steve Morison: Sutton United appoint ex-Cardiff City boss as manager

Steve Morison lasted less than a year as Cardiff boss

League Two's bottom side Sutton United have appointed former Cardiff City boss Steve Morison as their new manager.

The 40-year-old dropped five levels of the English football pyramid after his Cardiff exit in September 2022, as he most recently took charge of non-league side Hornchurch in the Isthmian League.

Morison now takes the helm of a Sutton side that has won just one of their past nine league games.

He replaces Matt Gray, who was sacked on 19 December.

Morison's move to Gander Green Lane followed Sutton's 3-1 FA Cup third-round defeat by Championship side Plymouth Argyle.

At the same time Morison was guiding league-leading Hornchurch to a 1-1 draw with Horsham, after which the club said he announced his departure to fans in the clubhouse.

"I'm disappointed to confirm that Steve will be leaving us after six months, following probably the most impressive first half of a season we have ever seen," Hornchurch chairman Alex Sharp told the club website.

"I am delighted that he has got an exciting opportunity to return to the Football League so quickly and feel proud that Hornchurch has provided the platform for that return."

Morison, a former Millwall, Norwich and Wales striker, was handed his first job in senior management after taking on a caretaker role at Cardiff following Mick McCarthy's departure in October 2021.

He helped steer them to Championship safety, which earned him a contract as boss.

But he survived only 10 games of the 2022-23 season, leaving the Bluebirds when they were 18th and facing another relegation battle.

Morison's first match in charge of Sutton will be at home to high-flying Barrow, with Anthony Fenton to join him from Hornchurch as assistant.