Next Luton Town Manager Odds -29/04/20

Graeme Jones has left his post as Luton Town manager after 11 testing months for the Englishman. There is now whole list of candidates for the role, with former manager Nathan Jones leading the way as the bookies favourite.

The Hatters are currently 23rd in the Championship and are staring in the face of immediate relegation to League One, after claiming only 35 points from 37 games. As of now, Luton are six points adrift from 21st place Hull City and are in desperate need of a new man at the helm to keep up their dream of second-tier football.

Here, we take a look at the BetVictor odds for who could be the next Luton manager.

Jones is a clear favourite on this list, with no other candidate coming close to his price of 1/3 to take the job at Kenilworth Road. Immediately following Graeme Jones departure after 11 months in charge of the club, it seems all attention has turned towards their former boss.

Back in January 2019, the ex-Luton gaffer left the club with Luton in the midst of a promotion fight to reach the Championship, for what was looking like a return to the second flight of English football since 2007.

Since consecutively being relegated from the Championship to non-league from 2007-2010, the Hatters stayed outside of the Football League for five torrid seasons. Since then, the club have been seeking a man to get them back up the leagues, and it did seem they found that boss within Jones.

However, he controversially left the club for Stoke City, who were themselves seeking a promotion in their own right in the league above. The 46-year-old's time with the Potters was nothing short of dreadful, lasting just 38 matches and leaving the club fighting for survival in the Championship.

Now, there are just seven points that separate his two former clubs and it seems Jones is the man to once again take the helm with Luton. His time with Stoke may just be remembered for a match that was doomed from day one, as Stoke plummeted from the Premier League to the bottom of the Championship in a matter of months.

Luton is clearly more suited for Jones and he already knows the club inside out, leading them out 170 times as a manager. At 1/3, odds are short, but for a reason.

Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson is in high demand from clubs within the lower leagues and nations battling to achieve a strong European stature. Currently, Robinson is 1/1 to reunite with Northern Ireland after Michael O'Neill's departure and lead his country into the European play-offs against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

However, Robinson is also on the list of potential figures who could take the helm at Kenilworth Road. The 45-year-old has managed in England before, but in League One for just a few months. Robinson was the boss of Oldham Athletic for part of their 2016/17 season, helping them to steer clear of relegation to League Two.

Midway through the season, Robinson would depart for Motherwell, where he has since established himself as one of the brightest younger managers on the British Isles. Whilst Motherwell are from a European heavyweight, the Northern Irishman led the club to a Scottish League Cup final and Scottish Cup final in his first full season, losing to Celtic on both occasions; that in itself is no shame.

Now, the Steelers' boss sits in third with the club, with only the Glasgow giants ahead of them. With two cup finals and a third-place standing in SPFL, there are arguments that Robinson has taken Motherwell as far as he can.

Luton could bring forth a new challenge, although, with Jones a clear favourite, Robinson is 8/1 to take the helm of the Championship strugglers.

It does seem as if Jones is the man to take the helm and continue his work with Luton in the near future. However, there are notable outsiders for the role, which should be noted, such as former assistant manager and current assistant manager of Atromitos F.C in Greece, Steve Rutter.

Rutter worked with Jones as the assistant coach until January 2019 until the latter left for Stoke, whilst Rutter himself left the club in July of that year to join his former Panathinaikos boss Yannis Anastasiou at Atromitos - the 56-year-old is 12/1 to return to Luton as their manager.

Another name mentioned who is most definitely in with a shout is Mick Harford. Harford is currently the chief recruitment officer for the Hatters and has taken the role as interim boss for the time being.

The former Luton striker played for the club in two different spells, accumulating 158 appearances for them. Harford also managed the club in from January 2008 to October 2009, although a win record of 27.47% was far from impressive. He also took charge of the club until the end of the season last year, when Jones left for Stoke.

Now, with odds of 12/1 to take the role once again on a permanent basis, it's certainly worth considering based off his history with the club.

Michael Flynn - 14/1

Paul Heckingbottom - 16/1

Ryan Lowe - 16/1

Michael Duff - 20/1

Paul Tisdale - 20/1

Micky Mellon - 20/1

Mark Warburton - 25/1

Gareth Ainsworth - 25/1