Barnsley are on the lookout for a new manager following Gerhard Struber’s exit from the South Yorkshire club to take up the helm at New York Red Bulls.
I always like to take a look at the bookies favourites to take over when a manager leaves and I was surprised to see so many people with Huddersfield Town connections among the bookmakers shortlist.
Here’s a look at the former Huddersfield Town managers that the bookies are offering odds on to take over at Oakwell and a few of my thoughts about the prospect of these coaches managing Barnsley.
David Wagner – 16/1
Things started brightly for Wagner at Schalke in the Bundesliga but he was sacked recently after a terrible run of form that saw him fail to win in 18 games. In his defence, Schalke are rumoured to be poorly run off the pitch and Wagner may have not been the only factor in their failure to get results.
Wagner’s achievement of guiding Huddersfield Town to the Premier League on a shoestring budget will counteract some of his more recent failings in Germany. I’m not sure Wagner would want to jump straight back into management though after only just being relieved of his duties in what must have been a very stressful time for him.
I would genuinely hate to see Wagner take on the Barnsley job. He’s my all-time favourite Town manager and it would break my heart to see him in the dugout of a rival team. I understand he needs to work but I sincerely hope he’s never managing a team against Huddersfield Town.
Danny Cowley – 12/1
It’s no surprise to see Danny Cowley linked with this job and he’s probably the most likely candidate out of all the Huddersfield Town old boys listed in this article. He’s managed at nearly every level of English football (including currently being in charge of his daughter’s under-12s team).
Danny Cowley has succeeded in every managerial role he has had so far in his career, even last year at Town where he guided us to safety with a game to spare despite inheriting a in freefall that failed to win in the first nine games of the season and was full of bad attitudes. He also talks a good game and comes across as a really reasonable person, so I can imagine he’d do well in interview situations.
I can’t see Cowley wanting this job if I’m honest. He’s an ambitious man and will most probably conclude that Barnsley are not a likely vehicle for him to continue his ascent through the football league (with managing West Ham being a likely long-term aim). The club’s lack of resources, quality in the squad and relative over-acheivement under Struber make this a job that wouldn’t be too tempting to a manager that wants to compete at the top end of the table and to win things.
I don’t have the same emotional attachment to Cowley as I do Wagner, so have no qualms about him taking over a job with another Championship side. In fact, after he was unfairly given the boot at Town, I hope he gets himself a job with a decent Championship side and shows what he can do when given the right backing – I suspect he can win promotion to the Premier League with the right team.
Simon Grayson – 16/1
I always think that Grayson doesn’t get the credit he deserves for guiding Town out of League One via the playoffs and then establishing us in the Championship. Nothing that came later could have happened if we’d not won the penalty shootout against Sheffield United that day.
Grayson has been around a bit now and has an enviable promotion record. I believe only Neil Warnock has got more clubs promoted than Grayson but that pub quiz knowledge may be out of date now. Either way, he’s got a wealth of experience and tends to be able to get results out of his teams.
Whether Grayson would continue the work Struber has done to develop a hard-pressing style of football at Barnsley is less clear. His tactics when managing Town weren’t particularly inspirational to my memory but I believe he’s developed a more attacking approach at other clubs since he left.
Jan Siewert – 25/1
Siewert is more of a long-shot than the other three mentioned above. He was sacked after a horrendous spell in charge of Huddersfield Town, guiding us to relegation from the Premier League (admittedly from an almost impossible situation) and failed to turn the clubs fortunes around with an equally dismal start to last season’s Championship campaign. All in all, Siewert managed just one win in nineteen competitive games at Town and will go down as one of our worst managers in our history, statistically at least.
I actually quite liked Siewert, he seemed like he had a clear plan for what he wanted and his approach wasn’t all that different from the one that had brought us so much success under David Wagner (and there are now echoes in the way Corberán is doing things too). He inherited a sinking ship and struggled to turn things around. Taking over a less dysfunctional team may mean he has a better chance of success.
Given there are quite a lot of available managers with much better track records, it would be odd for Barnsley to go after Siewert. He’s currently working as a youth coach for Mainz in Germany and it may even require compensation to be paid to make him available. Despite bookmakers having his name in the mix, I can’t see it happening.
Who else might take charge of Barnsley?
The former Town managers mentioned above aren’t the only people being linked to this job. Former Town player and current Newport County boss, Michael Flynn is also listed as a potential option.
The joint bookies favourites for the job are Eddie Howe and Hannes Wolf, both listed as 3/1 by thesackrace.com. After managing in the Premier League for such a long time, it’s a surprise to see Howe being linked with a job at the bottom end of the Championship but if he’s desperate to return to management then he may just want to jump on the first job that comes up. Wolf has experience in Germany and Belgium but I don’t know much about him otherwise.
The Ex-Town managers are all over 10/1 with the bookmakers, so are currently outsiders but things can change very quickly in the betting market. One rumour on a forum can prompt a flurry of betting and the odds to be slashed.