Di Canio among favourites to enter Blackburn circus
Published:To describe Blackburn Rovers’ season as eventful would be an understatement, in the aftermath of Michael Appleton becoming their third permanent manager to get the chop this season.
And following his dismissal, Gary Bowyer will take the Ewood Park reins for the second time this season, guiding the team for the remainder of the campaign.
Ladbrokes favour him to stay on beyond that point though, and make the Rovers reserve team coach 9/4 favourite to land the position on a permanent basis.
If he can repeat his exploits of earlier in the season, when he recorded three wins and a draw from four games as caretaker manager, he has a good chance.
A lack of significant first-team managerial experience didn’t hamper the chances of Blackburn’s last three bosses in landing the job, which must be encouraging for backers of Bowyer.
However, it is incredibly difficult to predict the next move of eccentric Rovers owners Venky’s, under whom Appleton took charge of 15 games, the most of any Blackburn chief this season.
Nigel Adkins comes next in the betting to permanently replace the ex-Blackpool chief, but after his sour experience with Southampton chairman Nicola Cortese, he may be best avoided at 5/1.
Indeed, Adkins led the Saints to the Premier League and a relatively comfortable top-flight position before being dismissed, and the brief nature of Blackburn’s last three managers’ reigns suggest that their axe-wielding owners are ones he would prefer to avoid.
Meanwhile, at 8/1, some may be interested by the prospect of two combustible elements coming together by means of a Paolo Di Canio appointment at Ewood.
The brash Italian left Swindon after a fallout with the club’s owners, and despite hope he would return to the County Ground, he is in the hunt for a new role.
His proclamation that he wishes to manage a Premier League side could prove a stumbling block though, with Rovers currently sitting only four points clear of the Championship drop zone.
Other options are 9/1 Tim Sherwood, who was a popular choice amongst Rovers fans when almost being appointed in favour of Henning Berg earlier in the season.
And Mark Hughes is 12/1 to return to the club in a managerial capacity once again, though in his case too, it is likely he would hold out for a position at a top-flight club.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
