League Two side Port Vale are looking for a new manager following the sacking of John Askey on 4th January, following a 4-0 hammering away at Field Mill against Mansfield Town, which left Vale in 17th place on 25 points from 22 games. At the time Askey had overseen his side win just once in his last 12 league outings, which came on 5th December in a 6-3 win away at Bolton Wanderers.
Port Vale coach Danny Pugh is the favourite to get the job at Vale Park at the odds of 8/13. Pugh joined Vale back in January 2017 from Blackpool as a player, but following a knee injury which saw the former Manchester United man ruled out for the second half of the 2017/18 season, coupled with the departure of coach Gary Brabin, the 38-year-old took on a more advanced coaching role at the club and has been on the Valiants staff ever since. Pugh has had two spells of being the club’s caretaker manager and beat Grimsby 3-0 last Saturday following the sacking of Askey.
Former Mansfield Town manager Graham Coughlan is second on the list of favourites to get the job at Vale Park. The former Stags coach had an unsuccessful stint at Field Mill having won just four of his 27 matches in charge of Town.
The Irishman’s best managerial spell came at Bristol Rovers in League One where he won 25 out of his 56 games in charge between December 2018 and December 2019 before making the shock move to Mansfield in the league below, despite the Pirates battling for a place in the playoffs.
This would be a good move for Coughlan, as it would be a chance to fix his recently dented managerial reputation after making a very impressive start to it with Rovers.
Danny Cowley is best known for his time managing Lincoln City, where he earned the Imps two promotions from the National League and to League One for the first time since 1999. On top of this, Lincoln became the first conference side to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals in over a century, beating the likes of Brighton, Ipswich Town and Premier League outfit Burnley along the way. The following season Lincoln consolidated their status in League Two, winning the EFL Trophy via a 1-0 win against League One side Shrewsbury Town in what remains the Imp’s only ever appearance at Wembley.
Following this, Cowley was snapped up by Championship outfit Huddersfield Town and consolidated their place in the league having taken over the recently relegated Premier League side whilst they were struggling at the bottom of the division, following the sales of many key players in the summer transfer window. The former Braintree Town manager did what was expected of him, which was to keep the club in the league, and to many people’s surprise, following a 2-1 win against promotion-chasing West Brom, the 42-year-old was sacked and has remained without a job since this happened last July.
This job would be a step down for Cowley, as he has built up a reputation which should realistically earn him a job in League One, following his time at Lincoln, as well as a decent spell in the Championship with Huddersfield as mentioned above.
Cowley is priced at 7/1 to become the Valiant’s next manager.