While Boro will no doubt have potential candidates in mind, it’s understood that a replacement hasn’t been lined up, and the process of recruiting the next head coach will now step up.
What’s certain is that whoever is appointed will be deemed a good fit for the current squad and model in operation at Boro. Despite the exit of the head coach, the hope and aim is continuity.
Rob Edwards has been installed as the early favourite with the bookmakers, ahead of Steve Cooper. Former Feyenoord Brian Priske is a surprise name at an early short price, ahead of the likes of Danny Rohl and Tom Cleverley.
Here’s a closer look at the early names to have been mentioned and priced up by bookmakers:
Rob Edwards
Edwards was part of the coaching set-up at Wolves when Kieran Scott worked at Molineux, and Boro’s head of football is known to be an admirer of the former Luton boss.
Edwards interviewed for the job after Chris Wilder’s dismissal and while Carrick got the nod on that occasion, the ex-Forest Green and Watford chief impressed Boro officials.
He has experience of winning promotion from the Championship having guided Luton to the Premier League against the odds. And the Hatters made a good fight of staying up. It didn’t work out last season and Edwards was sacked in January, but remained extremely popular with supporters.
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Steve Cooper
Cooper, like Edwards, is a free agent having been sacked by Leicester City at the start of last season. It would be a leap to say the Foxes would have stayed up had they kept Cooper in charge but the decision to sack him and replace with Ruud van Nistelrooy backfired. Leicester regressed.
Cooper has a background in player development having come through the ranks with the FA and leading England’s Under-17s to World Cup success. And he knows and has succeeded in the Championship, impressing with Swansea before doing a sterling job in taking Forest up and keeping them there.
Danny Rohl
Danny Rohl is one of if not the most admired manager in the Championship, but there’s a problem – the compensation required to get him out of Sheffield Wednesday.
The figure needed to release the highly-rated young German boss from his contract at Hillsborough is said to be in the region of £5m, which goes a long way to explaining why he’s still in charge of Wednesday.
The Owls are in something of a mess and could be facing a three-window transfer embargo, with the EFL officially charging them over unpaid wages.
Rohl raised fresh doubts about his future when he said at the end of the season: “I will not forget this place. It doesn’t matter what happens now.
“It will be part of the bottom of my heart.”
Gary O’Neil
Former Middlesbrough midfielder O’Neil enjoyed an impressive start to his managerial career, doing fine jobs at Bournemouth and Wolves.
He was sacked by Wolves in December last year and has been out of work since.
One major stumbling block for O’Neil could be the potential reaction from supporters after he once suggested he’d purposefully picked up a booking for Boro towards the end of the 2008/09 season because he knew it would trigger a suspension and enable him to watch the US Masters golf.
It would be something he’d no doubt have to address if he ended up as Boro boss.
Brian Priske
Former Feyenoord manager Brian Priske is a surprise early name in the list compiled by bookmakers.
It’s not known whether he’s someone on Boro’s radar but it’s worth pointing out he’s been linked with Rangers, Bristol City and even Notts County in the last few weeks, suggesting his representatives are keen to get his name out there.
Priske has managed at Midtjylland in Denmark and Royal Antwerp in Belgium and is available after leaving Feyenoord in February, where he drew with Manchester City 3-3 in the Champions League.
Tony Mowbray
Mowbray is out of work having been surprisingly sacked by West Brom after just three months in charge.
It goes without saying that Mogga is incredibly well thought of at Boro, where he’s a club legend, but a return for a second spell in the dugout at the Riverside would be a surprise.
Tom Cleverley
Since his sacking at Watford, Tom Cleverley is said to have spoken to Southampton and has been linked with QPR and Plymouth.
He did a sound job at Vicarage Road and managing the Hornets amid the uncertainty above is now a simple task.
He lacks experience but did enough at Watford to suggest he has a bright future in the dugout.
Others
Michael Carrick wasn’t seen as an early frontrunner before he took charge of Boro three years ago, and the likes of Aitor Karanka and even Steve McClaren were curveball appointments. So don’t rule out a surprise name emerging in the days ahead.
One thing that’s certain is that Boro will be inundated with interest and applicants in the days and weeks ahead. It’s a big job and hugely appealing job, working for a chairman who will back the head coach with time and money.
