Next Blackburn manager odds: Ex-West Ham boss among names linked with replacing O’Neill

Gary Rowett is the current favourite to be named the new Blackburn manager following Michael O’Neill’s decision not to return to Ewood Park next season.

talkSPORT BET are pricing the outgoing Leicester manager as the 4/1 favourite, marginally ahead of the likes of Slaven Bilic and Tony Mowbray. The full version of the odds list can be found here.

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Blackburn are on the hunt for a new manager following Michael O’Neill’s announcement that he will not be staying at the club through the summer, having taken charge of the side’s final 15 matches of the campaign.

The Northern Irishman took over a side sat in the relegation zone in mid February following the sacking of Valerien Ismael, and managed to steer Rovers to a 20th placed finish, ending up five points clear of the relegation zone.

The 56-year-old has since decided not to extend his deal in Lancashire though, instead keeping all his eggs in the basket of managing his native Northern Ireland, a role he had alongside the Blackburn job for the last three months.

Rowett is currently being touted as the man most likely to replace O’Neill in the Ewood Park dugout, the 52-year-old having most recently managed the last 14 games of Leicester’s season, but failed in his task to keep the Foxes in the Championship.

The Englishman’s contract at the King Power Stadium runs out at the end of next month, and despite managing two teams who got relegated from the second tier last season, having started the season at Oxford before his sacking in December, Rowett still has over 430 matches of Championship experience under his belt and remains a man in demand.

The Worcestershire-born manager has previously managed Birmingham (two spells), Derby, Stoke, Millwall, Oxford and Leicester in the second tier, and could be adding a seventh club to that tally next season.

Next Blackburn manager odds

• Gary Rowett – 4/1
• Graham Alexander – 6/1
• Slaven Bilic – 6/1
• Tony Mowbray – 6/1
• David Wagner – 6/1
• Chris Coleman – 8/1
• Will Still – 8/1
• Leam Richardson – 10/1
• 16/1 BAR

All odds correct at the time of writing

View full list of next Blackburn manager odds HERE

There’s currently a four way tie for second place in the odds to be named the new Rovers manager, the most notable name of which is probably the former West Ham and West Brom manager Slaven Bilic.

The Croatian boasts 100 games of Premier League experience, leading West Ham to a seventh place finish a decade ago in their final season at Upton Park, and has also managed over 70 matches in the Championship, winning promotion from the second tier with West Brom back in 2020.

The 57-year-old, who also led his country to the quarter finals of Euro 2008 as manager, is currently a free agent having been without a club since his departure from Saudi Arabian club Al Fateh in August 2024.

David Wagner is another former Premier League manager linked with the Blackburn job. The American secured an likely promotion from the Championship with Huddersfield in 2017 before spending the best part of two seasons with them in the Premier League.

The 54-year-old, who has also managed Schalke in the Bundesliga, hasn’t managed a team since his departure from Norwich in 2024 after losing in the Championship play-off semi finals, but has been in a role as Leipzig’s academy manager since last summer.

Tony Mowbray is another being rumoured for what would be his second spell at Ewood Park following a successful five year period at the Lancashire side which saw them promoted from League One and re-establish themselves as a Championship club.

The 62-year-old, who managed West Brom to promotion to the Premier League in 2008, boasts just shy of 500 matches managed in the Championship, and has been out of a job since leaving his second spell in charge of the Baggies in April last year.

The final name priced at 6/1 for the Rovers managerial job is current Bradford manager Graham Alexander.

The 54-year-old, who spent 13 years of his playing career playing for Blackburn’s Lancashire rivals Preston and Burnley, has never managed in the Championship before but has impressed in his two and a half years in his current spell in West Yorkshire.

The Scot took the Bantams into the third tier by securing automatic promotion from League Two last year, and is currently in the midst of a play-off semi final against Bolton as the club hunt successive promotions and a first season in the second tier since 2004.

The likelihood of the former Scotland defender making the move to Ewood Park this season could well depend on Bradford’s fate in the play-offs over the next couple of weeks.

Other names linked with the vacant Blackburn role include former Wales and Fulham manager Chris Coleman, who is a free agent after leaving his role at Asteras Aktor in Greece in January, former Lens and Southampton boss Will Still, and current Reading manager Leam Richardson.

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