Next Blackburn manager odds: Who is the bookmaker’s favourite to replace Valerien Ismael?

Betting sites have opened a market on the next Blackburn manager after the club made the decision to part ways with head coach Valerien Ismael.

While most clubs were focusing on their playing staff on transfer deadline day, Rovers were making changes to their management team, sacking Ismael after a run of eight league games without a win.

A 1-0 defeat at home to Hull City on Saturday left Rovers in the relegation zone, but just three points from safety with a game in hand.

Ismael led the side to a seventh-place finish last season, missing out on the play-offs by just two points, but he failed to find that form again this time around, and they have won just seven of their 29 league games to date.

With jobs at Leicester and Watford also up for grabs at the moment, we are seeing a lot of the same names moving up and down the list of favourites from the football betting sites, and it’s a former player who is the favourite for this one.

Former Fulham and Wales boss Chris Coleman was the favourite with some bookmakers for the Leicester job, and he’s now emerged as the frontrunner for this one too, as he looks to rebuild his career back in England.

It’s been eight years since he was last in charge of a club in England, when he was manager of Sunderland, but he couldn’t stop them from being relegated from the Championship.

He was sacked shortly after the club was sold, and since then, he has managed in China, Greece, Cyprus and Belgium and recently left the Greek side Asteras Tripolis.

As a player, he spent 18 months at Ewood Park, playing for the then Premier League champions before joining Fulham in 1997.

Talking of former players, Damien Duff has also been priced up for the role, and he is also currently out of work after leaving Shelbourne in the summer.

The Republic of Ireland international spent seven years at the club, helping them win promotion back to the top flight and the 2002 League Cup back.

As well as coaching at Celtic and being assistant manager of Ireland under Stephen Kenny, his only managerial role came with Shelbourne, who he led to the FAI Cup, Uefa Conference League qualification and the league title before stepping down in June.

Tony Mowbray is another man heavily linked with a return after he spent five years at Blackburn between 2017 and 2022.

He guided them back to the Championship in his first full season in charge, but hardly set the world alight during his spell, with 15th and 11th-place finishes before he was eventually replaced by Jon Dahl Tomasson.

As soon as the departure of Valerian was announced, the first name linked was former West Ham boss Slaven Bilic, who has also enjoyed a spell away from English football.

He left England in 2023, when he was sacked by Watford, but he took charge of Saudi Pro League side Al-Fateh just months later.

He was sacked by the club 12 months later after winning just 13 of his 36 games in charge, and he has been out of work since.

He has plenty of experience in the Championship with 18 months at West Brom, where he guided the club to promotion to the Premier League in 2020.

Bilic is around 4/1 on betting apps to be Blackburn’s sixth manager in the last 10 years.

Former Huddersfield, Schalke and Norwich boss David Wagner is maybe a better option than most, and he is currently joint-favourite with Coleman.

The German has been out of work since leaving Carrow Road in 2024, when he was sacked despite leading the club to the Championship play-offs.

They finished sixth in the league table but were beaten over two legs in the semi-final by Leeds United, and he was sacked the following day.

He also guided Huddersfield to promotion to the Premier League back in May 2018, beating Reading in the play-off final. He then somehow kept the club in the top-flight in the 2017–18 season.

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Even the most knowledgeable racing punter can lose a bet, so always stick to a budget and never chase your losses.

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