Next Sheffield Wednesday Manager Odds

Sheffield Wednesday earned their promotion to the Championship with a dramatic Play-offs journey, overturning a four-goal deficit in the Semi-finals and grabbing the winning goal in the third minute of added time of extra time in the Final.

Despite this success, manager Darren Moore left the club this summer, citing a mutual decision, though claims from Wednesday’s chairman Dejphon Chansiri state that Moore had asked for a contract four times the size of his current one.

However the relationship with Moore and the club ended, Wednesday now need to appoint their next manager in order to successfully prepare for a tough Championship season.

Former Watford manager Xisco Munoz is the latest front-runner for the managerial vacancy at Hillsborough.

The 42-year-old managed the Hornets between December 2020 and October 2021, winning 21 of his 36 games in charge, overseeing the Vicarage Road club’s promotion to the Premier League in 2020/21 via a second-place finish in the Championship.

Since his time at Watford, Xisco has had fairly unsuccessful spells as manager of Huesca and Cypriot outfit Anorthosis and will be looking to rebuild his career with the Owls should he be successful in getting the role.

Dean Smith could make the move to Wednesday to manage a club he’s very familiar with from his senior career. Though Smith played just one season at Wednesday in the 2003/04 season, he made 55 appearances and scored just one goal.

Smith has had a long-running managerial career, including stints at clubs like Walsall, Brentford, Aston Villa, Norwich and Leicester City. His most successful tenure was his three-year stint in West London at Brentford where he took charge of 143 games for The Bees, winning 57 games, sharing the points 35 times and losing 51 times. This gave him a win rate of 39.86%.

Smith’s most successful stint was in the Championship, a league where he won promotion with Aston Villa as well, making him a good choice for Wednesday and currently the most likely candidate.

Nathan Jones is a relatively new face in management having only started his managerial career back in 2014. However, in his time he has drawn a lot of attention for his success, mostly in the Championship.

Jones’ stint at Luton Town from 2020 to 2022 brought him many accolades and even a big move to Premier League club Southampton. Though that fairytale move to the top flight didn’t quite pan out the way he would’ve planned with The Saints being relegated back to the Championship after 11 seasons.

However, his time in the Championship at Luton was where he stood out. He took charge of 170 games for The Hatters, leading them to victory on 87 occasions, sharing the points 46 times and being on the losing end just 37 times. This gave Jones a 51.2% win rate. Jones also showed that he can transform a team, taking Luton from 19th in his first season to a sixth-place finish in his last season.

This could be a likely move for Jones, especially after his season with Southampton, but it’s a move that could definitely benefit Wednesday.

Danish coach Jess Thorup is also in contention for the Wednesday job, having frequently shown his managerial capabilities in the Danish Superliga.

Thorup was sacked by Copenhagen back in September 2022, having won 49 of his 88 matches in charge - despite this though, the 53-year-old had coached the Danish side to the Superliga title in 2021.

Perhaps Thorup’s most prominent spell as a manager came during his time at FC Midtjylland between July 2015 and October 2018, where he won the Danish Superliga title with 85 points from 36 matches in 2017/18.

In between spells back in his homeland, Thorup had managed Belgian Pro League outfit Gent and Genk, managing the former 82 times, winning 39 and drawing 19 matches, while his time at Genk saw him take charge of just five matches, where he won three times and drew twice before departing for Copenhagen.

Another veteran manager considered for the Wednesday vacancy is Slaven Bilic. The Croatian started his managerial career back in 2001 and has managed all across the world, including in international football.

Bilic has a lot of experience in the Premier League with the likes of West Ham, where he spent just over two years, taking charge of 111 games, winning on 42 occasions, drawing 30 times and losing 39 games, giving him a win percentage of 37.84%.

His experience in the Championship has left some to be desired, only having short stays at Watford and West Brom, not lasting the entire season both times. However, his experience elsewhere makes him a good prospect for any side and Bilic’s next destination is likely to be in Sheffield.

Though a star for Manchester United and Inter Milan during his playing career, Paul Ince is now deep into his managerial life.

Ince started his managerial career in 2006 with Macclesfield Town, going on to manage the likes of MK Dons, Nott County, Blackpool and most recently Reading. Despite being sacked by Reading after a tough season, Ince has proven he can get the best out of different teams.

During his first stint at MK Dons, Ince achieved a win rate of 60%, winning 33 of 55 games he took charge of. This feat, as well as his other experience, could make him a good choice and a likely one for Sheffield Wednesday.

Wednesday are also allegedly looking outside of England for their next manager, seemingly landing on Guiseppe Iachini. The Italian has only ever managed within Italy and would be a big gamble for Wednesday.

The Owls have reportedly already held talks with Iachini, but will his experience in Italy translate to the Championship? Since 2002, Iachini has managed 13 different clubs with his honours including two Serie B titles, the 2007/08 title with Chievo Verona and the 2013/14 title with Palermo.

His most successful season was the 2011/12 season with Sampdoria where he had a win rate of 48% with 15 wins in 31 games. Though this seems like a bit of a rogue choice from Wednesday, it could be a likely one with Iachini ready to move away from Italy to take his chances in the Championship.

• Latest match predictions
• Football tips
• Football accumulator tips
• Football bet of the day