Next Blackburn Manager Odds: New Co-Favourites For Rovers Job As Savage Drifts
The next Blackburn manager market is changing all the time and there are two new favourites on betting sites to fill the vacancy left by the dismissal of Valerien Ismael.
The Frenchman was shown the door following a 1-0 home defeat by Hull which left Rovers mired in the Championship relegation zone.
Interim manager Damien Johnson oversaw a much-needed victory against Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday night which ended their eight-game winless run and lifted Rovers out of the bottom three.
Former Blackburn midfielder Robbie Savage was one of the favourites earlier in the week, but he insists he wants to "see through" the project with National League promotion hopefuls Forest Green Rovers.
Ex-Wales head coach Chris Coleman was the early frontrunner for the Rovers job, but Gary Rowett and Bradford boss Gary Alexander now lead the way.
Next Blackburn Manager Odds: Rowett Leads Rovers Field
Rowett has plenty of managerial experience in the Championship and his odds have been slashed from 10/1 to 5/2 for the Blackburn job.
Despite being sacked by Oxford in December, Rowett worked wonders at Millwall and in his first managerial spell at Birmingham.
The former Derby defender steered City from 21st in the Championship in his first season in charge (2014/15) only to be sacked by the club's new ownership in December 2016 when Birmingham were one place outside the play-offs.
Three years later, he joined the Lions, who finished eighth, 11th and ninth in his first three seasons in south London.
Would Alexander Be Great For Rovers?
Alexander is bidding to win back-to-back promotions with Bradford, who are well placed for the play-offs in fifth place in League One.
The former Motherwell and MK Dons boss spent four seasons as a player with Blackburn's hated rivals Burnley, but Rovers supporters will forgive and forget if he can lead the club to safety.
Alexander also had promotion success in the play-offs with Fleetwood (2013/14) and Scunthorpe (2018/19) in League Two and the National League respectively, so he has a respectable CV to bring to the table.
Whether he would want to swap a promotion tilt for a relegation battle at this stage of the season is open to question.
Rovers Return For Coleman?
Coleman has been coaching abroad for the last eight years in China, Greece, Cyprus and Belgium, and is a contender for the Blackburn job.
The 55-year-old Welshman, who spent two seasons playing for Rovers in the Premier League in the mid-1990s, steered OH Leuven to a respectable 11th-placed finish in the Belgian top flight last season.
The ex-Fulham captain enjoyed several promotions as a player, but success has so far eluded him as a manager, although he sensationally led Wales to the European Championship semi-finals 10 years ago.
His last managerial appointment in England came in the 2017/18 season at Sunderland.
Coleman was the 2/1 favourite earlier in the week, but the emergence of Rowett and Alexander means his odds have drifted to 6/1 on one of the betting apps.
Bilic In The Frame
Slaven Bilic secured promotion to the Premier League with West Brom and is the 6/1 third co-favourite to fill the Blackburn vacancy.
The Croatian’s last managerial role in England came in the 2022/23 season at Watford which lasted less than six months, despite the Hornets being in ninth place in the Championship at the time of his dismissal.
Bilic has been out of work for just under 18 months since leaving Saudi side Al-Fateh, but he would surely relish another challenge in the Championship.
The former West Ham manager has been linked with several Championship vacancies in the past and remains one of the leading contenders to help save Rovers’ season.
Next Blackburn Manager Odds:
Manager | Odds | Probability |
Gary Rowett | 5/2 | 28.6% |
Graham Alexander | 5/2 | 28.6% |
Chris Coleman | 6/1 | 14.3% |
Mark Hughes | 6/1 | 14.3% |
Slaven Bilic | 6/1 | 14.3% |
Robbie Savage | 8/1 | 11.1% |
Dave Challinor | 10/1 | 9.1% |
Marti Cifuentes | 12/1 | 7.7% |
Tony Mowbray | 14/1 | 6.7% |
David Wagner | 14/1 | 6.7% |
Aitor Karanka | 14/1 | 6.7% |
Wayne Rooney | 20/1 | 4.8% |
Ralph Hasenhuttl | 25/1 | 3.8% |
Jon Dahl Tomasson | 25/1 | 3.8% |
Nigel Pearson | 25/1 | 3.8% |
Damien Duff | 25/1 | 3.8% |
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer | 25/1 | 3.8% |
Sparky In The Mix For Ewood Park Return
Mark Hughes cut his managerial teeth at club level with Blackburn between 2004-08 after spending five years as head coach of the Wales national team.
It was a successful four years at Ewood Park for Hughes, who kept Rovers in the Premier League in his debut season and led them to a sixth-placed finish in the following campaign.
The Lancastrians also reached three Cup semi-finals during his tenure, before he left the club to take the reins as Sven Goran-Eriksson's replacement at Manchester City.
Hughes has been working his way down the pyramid since then, and finds himself at promotion-chasing Carlisle in the National League after a relatively unsuccessful spell at Bradford.
The Welshman is also 6/1 for the Blacckburn job.
Ex-Rovers Star Rules Out Return
Momentum gathered earlier in the week that the club's owners, Venky's, were considering former Blackburn midfielder Savage for the vacant position because he fitted the profile of working with young players.
However, Savage is adamant that he wants stay at Forest Green Rovers, who are strong contenders for a place in the end-of-season play-offs in the National League.
Savage spent four seasons playing for Blackburn in the Premier League and would be a popular appointment with fans, but the time does not appear to be right.
He said: "I have loved my time here (at Forest Green). I have got a great relationship with (the board. We are on a journey and a project, and it's something that I can't wait to see through."
🗣️ The gaffer addresses the rumours on social media about the vacant Blackburn job.#WeAreFGR 💚 pic.twitter.com/evgf3k3Yz8
— Forest Green Rovers (@FGRFC_Official) February 5, 2026
Challinor Odds Lengthen
Stockport boss Dave Challinor has drifted from 6/1 to 10/1 to fill the vacancy at Ewood Park.
Challinor is attempting to oversee a third promotion in five seasons with the Hatters, who are fourth in the League One table and just six points adrift of second-placed Lincoln.
Remarkably, the former Tranmere, Stockport and Bury centre-back has enjoyed promotions at all four of the clubs he has managed (Colwyn Bay, Fylde, Hartlepool and Stockport), but would he be prepared to swap a relegation scrap for a tilt at promotion.
Stockport are an ambitious club and could swap places with Rovers next season, so perhaps Challinor prefers not to take the risk of changing jobs.
Mowbray Slipping
Tony Mowbray has been out of work since his second spell as West Brom manager was cut short last April, just three months after his appointment.
In happier times, Mowbray steered Blackburn into the Championship in the 2017/18 season, 10 years after he had led the Baggies into the Premier League.
He spent more than five years at Rovers, but left at the end of his contract in 2022, only to join Sunderland a few months later.
Mowbray resigned as Birmingham boss at the end of the 2023/24 campaign for what was later revealed as bowel cancer.
The 62-year-old former Middlesbrough defender was the 2/1 favourite on Monday, but his odds have drifted significantly from 6/1 to 14/1.
Wagner Has Championship Experience
One man who knows plenty about the Championship is former Huddersfield boss David Wagner.
The German famously led the Terriers into the Premier League via the play-offs in the 2016/17 season and kept them up in the following campaign, although he parted ways with the West Yorkshire club at the start of 2019.
Spells with Schalke and Young Boys followed, before he returned to England midway through the 2023/24 season to take the reins at Norwich, leading the club to the play-offs which they lost to Leeds in the semi-finals.
He was sacked 24 hours later and has been out of work since, but questions have to be asked about whether he is ready for a relegation battle.
Wagner was the 7/4 favourite earlier in the week, but those odds are now a prohibitive 14/1.
Cifuentes Enters Picture
Elsewhere, Marti Cifuentes is available at 12/1, having been sacked by Leicester last month, while Ex-Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka can be backed at 14/1.
Wayne Rooney has not enjoyed much success as a Championship manager which may explain why the ex-England captain is 20/1 to become Blackburn's new boss.
Former Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl and ex-Blackburn gaffer Jon Dahl Tomasson, most recently in charge of the Sweden national team, are both priced at 25/1.
Ex-Rovers winger Damien Duff, who spent the first seven years of his career at Blackburn, is also 25/1, the same price as ex-Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and experienced Championship boss Nigel Pearson.
* Reminder: These are hypothetical odds provided by industry experts.
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