Middlesbrough's Manager Hunt: Predictions, Odds and Our Best Bets
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Middlesbrough's Manager Hunt: Predictions, Odds and Our Best Bets

Middlesbrough's Manager Hunt: Predictions, Odds and Our Best Bets

Middlesbrough have begun their search for a new manager following the departure of Rob Edwards to Wolves, and there's been a lot of chat about who the replacement is going to be.

Having only joined the Championship side in June, he makes the move to the Premier League in a bid to lift Wolves off the bottom of the table and guide them to safety, which is a pretty tough ask looking at their squad.

In his short time with Boro, Edwards took them up to second in the table, only behind Frank Lampard's high-flying Coventry, but the fans understandably hold some strongly negative feelings towards the ex-Luton boss given the manner of his departure.

They'll be looking for an experienced manager who can pick up where Edwards left off and maintain the momentum he instilled, as Boro have been stuck in the second tier since 2016/17 but consistently challenge for promotion. This could be their year, as long as they bring in the right manager to lead them.

According to the Northern Echo, Middlesbrough are not rushing to decide who they will hire, as they have the luxury of the international break that gives them a little bit of time to work with. They appear to understand the importance of bringing in the right replacement as opposed to the most available.

Here are talkSPORTBET's odds for the next Middlesbrough manager:

Gary O'Neil - 4.0

Steven Gerrard - 4.5

Brendan Rodgers - 6.0

Carlos Corberan - 6.0

Tony Mowbray - 7.0

Gareth Southgate - 7.0

A Big Name Hire?

Some of the names on this list are instantly recognisable, with a surprisingly Liverpudlian theme of Steven Gerrard and Brendan Rodgers on some decent odds. If recent managerial exploits are anything to go by, there might be some concern from Boro fans regarding these two.

Rodgers resigned from his head coach position at Celtic in October after a 3-1 loss to Hearts left them eight points behind the league leaders. In 2023, he guaranteed that he would stay for the full duration of his three year contract, but ended up falling a year short.

Gerrard, who managed Celtic's arch-rivals Rangers, has been out of a job since January 2025, following his departure from Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia. His time at Aston Villa isn't remembered fondly, and he turned down an opportunity to return to Rangers this season after Russell Martin left.

Perhaps this is an opportunity he would accept if chosen by the Boro board.

Championship Experience

It's always worth considering managers who have already proven themselves in a certain division, especially one as difficult to navigate as the Championship.

Carlos Corberan and Tony Mowbray epitomise this idea, and funnily enough both managed West Brom last season, with Mowbray replacing Corberan after the Spaniard switched allegiences to Valencia.

Mowbray has managed 883 games in his career, including a three year stint at Middlesbrough, and has proven himself as a very good manager in the EFL, but if Boro want to build a long-term project, he might not be the right man for the job. Though he may bring results in the short term, I doubt he'd be able to guide them to survival if they did earn promotion.

Corberan proved himself as an exciting young manager at Huddersfield and West Brom, though his massive drawing streak in his final days with the Baggies was uninspiring to say the least, and he's had a difficult start to the season with Valencia, who sit 17th and are at serious risk of relegation.

Perhaps a move to Teeside would bring the best back out of the Spaniard, but it would be a risk to go for him.

He Knows The Club, Ian

For those of you that aren't familiar with the brilliant Exploding Heads, that subheading may not have made much sense to you, so here's some context:

Several of the potential gaffers on the list have already played for or managed Middlesbrough, and clubs love bringing in fan favourites to lead the way, even including Rob Edwards who played over 100 games for Wolves.

Mowbray managed Boro for 153 games, but achieved 348 appearences for the Teeside club and established himself as a Middlesbrough legend, earning captaincy at just 22 years old and leading his side into the first division. He was even ranked in number seven of a list of Middlesbrough legends compiled by the Evening Gazette in 2007, so it's fair to say the local lad would be welcomed back with open arms.

Gareth Southgate also played for and managed Boro, and even matched Mowbray in captaining the side, becoming the first skipper to lift a trophy in the club's 128-year history when they won the League Cup in 2004. His last game in his playing career was for Boro when they lost the Europa League final against Sevilla.

He then famously reformed the England National team, turning a squad of egos into one of unity and guiding the country into their most successful period in 60 years, painfully losing two Euro finals. There's something about Southgate and losing finals.

It would be a huge statement of intent to bring in a manager of such calibre.

There's one more manager that has experience with Boro, playing 109 games for the side, and that is...

The Frontrunner - Gary O'Neil

The ex-Bournemouth boss has emerged as an early favourite to take the reins at Middlesbrough, fresh off of rejecting an approach from Wolves to return as their manager, which has put Boro in the situation they're in now. It feels like somewhat of a messy love triangle, or love square, if that's even a thing.

Having impressed as an interim manager at the Cherries, he became the permanent Bournemouth manager, but the positive results came to a halt and they found themselves in a relegation battle. He managed to keep them up, but was replaced by Andoni Iraola at the end of the season, a decision that Bournemouth will have absolutely no regrets about.

What followed was a stint at Wolves that was similar to his previous one, in that it started so well but turned sour very quickly.

In his first season, Wolves finished 14th and reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, which was very impressive considering the squad he inherited was allowed very little investment.

His second season was very poor, as he was relieved from his duties in December 2024 with the side in 19th and four points from safety, as well as seeing his players demonstrate some major disciplinary issues, Mario Lemina, Rayan Aït-Nouri and Matheus Cunha being the culprits.

O'Neil has shown some serious potential, but the Premier League has proven just too difficult for him so far. He's a young manager though, and joining a club like Middlesbrough could be the perfect career move for him right now.

The foundations are strong, the squad is competitive and they look set to earn promotion this season. Perhaps this is a success story waiting to happen.

Fans of the club have made it quite clear that they don't want him to take the job, though, primarily because he intentionally received a yellow card so he could watch The Masters during his suspension.

Regarding the incident, which came in the middle of a relegation scrap that saw them drop down to the Championship, he said: “I’ve taken one booking myself, on purpose. Not over Christmas. I wanted to watch The Masters, The US Masters, it was in April.

“I was on nine yellows, and I was definitely getting ten anyway. We were playing Bolton away or someone. I thought, ‘If I just get a yellow here, I can sit at home next weekend with my mates, and watch The Masters.'”

Other serious contenders include Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Raphael Wicky and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but they aren't as likely to be offered the job as the aforementioned six, according to talkSPORTBET.

That said, I wouldn't count any of them out, as an O'Neil appointment would enrage the fans and is thus unlikely, despite having the best odds.

Truthfully, this job could go to anyone as there doesn't seem to be a clear favourite. Boro are still weighing up their options and, despite having the best odds, everyone in this list has as good a chance as anyone at being offered the job right now. Time will tell.

Our best bet, despite Steve Gibson not even knowing who he wants yet, would be Carlos Corberan to be the next manager at Middlesbrough. It's still early days though, and until the picture becomes clearer, we'd recommend holding off.

Matt Stephens
Journalist

Matt Stephens

Freelance Football Writer

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