It’s open season for speculating who our next managerial appointment will be. Alongside the standard names that always crop up, there are a few new candidates circulating in the aftermath of Sunday’s sacking...
NEIL LENNON (7/4)
Neil Lennon is currently the frontrunner, according to William Hill. Lennon enjoyed success at Celtic and won 5 League Titles, 4 Scottish Cups and 1 Scottish League Cup. He has achieved promotion from League One once, with Nottingham Forrest but that was back in 2007-8 season. He left Celtic in his second stint after Rangers beat Celtic to the League. Lennon’s side finished 25 points behind their arch rivals. On paper, he’s overqualified for the job. But for many it would be an unpopular appointment, depending on where ones allegiances lie.
JOHN TERRY (5/2)
John Terry is another name suggested . These days it’s hard to picture Terry as a manager, what with his penchant for sharing ridiculous ape NFT’s on twitter, but he is currently a consultant at Chelsea's academy. He was assistant manager at Aston Villa before his job at Chelsea but he lacks any experience so it would be a gamble. From a PR standpoint, maybe his interest in promoting scams online will discount him from the role.
GRANT MCCANN (3/1)
McCann seems like an obvious candidate. After suffering relegation with Hull in his first season, he led them to the League One title in 2021. After a Turkish consortium took over earlier this January, McCann lost his job. When he left, Hull were 19th in the table but 10 points clear of the relegation zone. He has also got to the Play Off Semi Finals in League One with Doncaster Rovers, something which seems a Herculean feat right now. McCann has recent experience of getting out of this division and is currently without a club.
DUNCAN FERGUSON (10/1)
A left field candidate who seemed to emerge as an early forerunner. You would expect Ferguson to not take any rubbish, but the fact remains that he is short of experience as a manager. He has been assistant manager of Everton as well as caretaker manager twice. He played for Newcastle, which will mean he would always be an unpopular appointment for a section of our fanbase. He would probably give the team a kick up the arse but then again, so would a Hells Angel out on day release – we need someone with a track record for promotion and success at this level, not just a hard man.
NEIL WARNOCK (5/1)
Most recently manager of Middlesbrough, Neil recently broke a record in English football earlier this season when he managed his 1,602nd game in English football. One of Warnock’s best achievements was leading Cardiff to the Premier League in 2018. He has said that his three years there were among the best of his career. He has achieved multiple promotions in his long time in English football management and is a real character, but, if he is to return to management, it is unlikely to be in League One.
THE REST
As ever, there is a confederacy of ex-managers allegedly with an outside chance of returning. Alongside the perennial Big Sam, Roy Keane and Gus Poyet speculation, Mick McCarthy is also rumoured to be interested. Exciting. Obviously, these appointments aren’t going to happen however it might be nice to wonder how we’d fare under Roy Keane or Sam Allardyce.
CONCLUSION
Overall, just like every time we get shot of a manager in this league, the candidates seem to underwhelm a bit. What is certain is we need someone who has achieved promotion and we need to go up this year automatically. Getting rid of our manager when we are third in the league shows the owner sees anything less than automatic promotion as a failure. That being said, it means this appointment is the most crucial since we have been down here. If we don't go up this season, it is a catastrophe. Whoever takes the reigns inherits a squad full of players who can pay decent football, but we need to toughen up against the bigger League One sides and prepare to battle physical teams. Anyway, apparently the guy at Wrexham is doing a good job...
