Next Shrewsbury Manager Odds: Tight Race To Replace Outgoing Gareth Ainsworth
League One strugglers Shrewsbury are searching for their third manager in five months after it was confirmed Gareth Ainsworth has left the club to join Gillingham.
Ainsworth took over from Paul Hurst during the first week of November when Town were at the foot of the table and that’s where they remain with nine games remaining.
Shrews chairman Roland Wycherley says the club “are working really hard to have someone in place for Saturday”, but who will be in the dugout for the trip to leaders Birmingham?
Gambling.com takes a look at the main contenders on betting sites and the latest next Shrewsbury manager odds.
Duff A Wanted Man
Michael Duff was sacked by Huddersfield a few weeks ago, but already he is the favourite to become the manager of both MK Dons and Shrewsbury.
The Northern Irishman won five promotions as a player with Burnley and Cheltenham, with whom he also secured the League Two title as a manager in the 2020/21 season.
The Terriers were still in the race for the play-offs when he was shown the door, but four defeats in five games cost Duff his job.
However, the former Barnsley and Swansea boss could be back in League One sooner than he imagined – however briefly – and is 4/1 favourite with football betting sites to end up at New Meadow.
Next Shrewsbury Manager Odds
Candidate | Odds | Probability |
Michael Duff | 4/1 | 20% |
Rob Edwards | 5/1 | 16.7% |
Leam Richardson | 5/1 | 16.7% |
Craig Harrison | 6/1 | 14.3% |
Jon Brady | 8/1 | 11.1% |
Mark Kennedy | 8/1 | 11.1% |
Shaun Maloney | 10/1 | 9.1% |
Ian Evatt | 10/1 | 9.1% |
Brian Barry-Murphy | 10/1 | 9.1% |
Paul Warne | 12/1 | 7.7% |
Garry Monk | 14/1 | 6.7% |
Des Buckingham | 14/1 | 6.7% |
Could Edwards Take The Plunge?
Rob Edwards was a Premier League manager with Luton less than a year ago, but he is the 5/1 second co-favourite to take over at relegation certainties Shrewsbury where he played his final game as a professional player 12 years ago.
Edwards famously led the Hatters to the top flight via the Championship play-offs in the 2022/23 campaign, having won the League Two title with Forest Green Rovers in the previous season.
Luton proved a formidable team to beat at Kenilworth Road, but struggled to adapt to life in the Championship upon relegation and Edwards was shown the door in January.
Edwards has been linked with many vacancies but is still out of work and it remains open to question whether he would want to take over a club that are 14 points adrift of safety and inevitably heading to the fourth tier of English football.
Richardson In The Reckoning
Leam Richardson has spent his whole playing and managerial career in the north of England, but he is also 5/1 to fill the vacancy at Shrewsbury.
Richardson’s biggest managerial success came three seasons ago when he won the League One title with Wigan only to be sacked six moths later when the club dropped into the Championship relegation zone.
Just over a year later he was appointed Rotherham boss on a three-and-a-half-year deal, but won just two of his 24 Championship games in charge and was axed a couple of weeks after the club’s relegation was confirmed.
However, his success at Wigan should not be forgotten and he is a worthy contender for the Shrews job.
Would Harrison Ditch Saints For EFL Chance?
Craig Harrison may not be well known in England, but he has won the Welsh title nine times in two separate spells with The New Saints.
Harrison has spent nearly all of his managerial career in Wales aside from a short-lived spell at Hartlepool in the National League which ended in February 2017.
With no Football League experience, Harrison represents a gamble, but there is no doubt he is a winner albeit in a small pool.
The 47-year-old from Gateshead is available at 6/1 with betting apps for the Shrewsbury job.
Brady And Kennedy Pick Of Outsiders
Former Northampton manager Jon Brady, like Michael Duff, is one of the favourites to fill the MK Dons vacancy, but he can also be backed at 8/1 to join Shrewsbury, the same price as Mark Kennedy.
The ex-Republic of Ireland international was last in charge of Swindon but spent just five months at the County Ground before he was sacked in October last year.
Elsewhere, former Wigan boss Shaun Maloney, ex-Bolton chief Ian Evatt and Brian Barry-Murphy are all 10/1.
Paul Warne, axed by Derby at the start of February, is 12/1, while former Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday manager Garry Monk is available at 14/1, the same odds as Des Buckingham, whose most recent position was at hometown club Oxford.
