Scott Roderick Marshall is a Scottish former professional footballer and coach. Marshall played as a defender for several clubs, including Arsenal, Southampton and Celtic. His last job was being caretaker manager of Reading.
Playing career
Marshall started his playing career at Arsenal and broke into their first team at the age of 19, winning five Scotland under-21 caps. He scored his only goal for the Gunners in their 2–0 victory over Newcastle United in March 1996 and at the end of that season was voted as Arsenal's Young Player of the Year by the supporters. In seven seasons with Arsenal he only made 25 appearances, spending spells on loan at Rotherham United, Oxford United and Sheffield United. He made three league appearances as Arsenal won the 1997-98 Premier League, however this was not enough to qualify for a winners' medal. In August 1998, Dave Jones signed him for Southampton on a free transfer. Saints thought they had made a transfer coup, but Marshall soon showed why Arsenal let him go, scoring an own goal in his debut against Leeds United in a 3–0 defeat on 8 September 1998, repeating this four days later in a 4–0 defeat at Newcastle United. He never appeared again for Saints and went out on loan to Celtic, where his only appearance was in an Old Firm derby with Rangers in May 1999. Marshall ended up on the wrong end of a 3–0 scoreline, a game which saw Celtic's bitter rivals win the league at Celtic Park. This meant that Marshall had featured in just three league games in the 1998–99 season, had lost all three and had conceded 10 goals. Marshall then joined Brentford in October 1999 for a fee of £250,000. Unfortunately, after scoring yet another own goal in his third appearance for the Bees, he then suffered back problems which caused him to miss most of the 2001–02 season. After battling his way back to fitness, he at last gained regular first team football making a total of 94 appearances for the Bees, scoring seven goals. Marshall was released at the end of the 2002–03 season. In November 2003, he became Tony Adams' first signing as Wycombe Wanderers manager. At the end of the 2003–04 season, he was re-signed on a non-contract basis, but on 27 August 2004 he announced his retirement from the professional game.
Coaching career
Marshall took up a youth coaching role at Brentford in September 2007. He spent time living and working in Muscat, in the Sultanate of Oman, running the Arsenal Soccer School. He worked alongside Paul Lambert at Wycombe Wanderers before accepting the position as U-21 Development Squad Head Coach at Premier League side Norwich Cityin the summer of 2012. He was appointed coach at Aston Villa in June 2013, following Lambert's appointment as Villa manager. After Lambert was sacked on 11 February 2015, Scott Marshall and his namesake Andy Marshall were appointed as caretaker managers. They took charge of one game, a 2–1 win against Leicester City in the 2014–15 FA Cup. Marshall left Aston Villa on 17 February 2015, following the managerial appointment of Tim Sherwood. On 1 September 2017 Marshall joined Reading as manager of the U23s team. On 6 December 2018, Marshall was appointed caretaker of Reading, following the dismissal of Paul Clement. Marshall was replaced by head coach José Manuel Gomes on the 22nd December 2018 having a poor record of earning the Berkshire club just one single point in his brief stint in charge.
