Gary Rowett – Birmingham City (33/1)
Whilst the other three mentioned so far are quite big prices, we know enter the Football League managers priced much shorter in this respective betting market. 33/1 may seem quite a big price still, and it is, but the favourite Gareth Southgate is only 5/1. To simplify it even further, Gary Rowett is the 14th-favoiurite to be named the next England head coach.
Now Rowett has no official major honours to his managerial CV, but he certainly kept the Burton Albion bandwagon well and truly rolling. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and then Nigel Clough continued that work, but none of it would have been possible if Rowett didn’t leave such good foundations at the Pirelli Stadium.
In October 2014 he took on the job at Birmingham City, a club he played over 80 times for in his playing days. Whilst it is an attractive job, looking at the league table it was an extremely difficult challenge. They were in the relegation zone and looking likely to be involved in a relegation scrap. Rowett eased them away from any such problems and eventually ended that season very comfortably higher up the Championship table.
With Rowett, you can at least see him managing in the Premier League, with Birmingham or a different club. He certainly fits the DNA that the Football Association might want to approach at some stage. If he can build up his managerial CV even more over the next few years, then there is no reason why he couldn’t be an England manager one day. Although probably not Roy Hodgson’s direct successor.
