Blackburn Rovers are searching for a new manager after they sacked Valerien Ismael, who lasted a year at Ewood Park.
Rovers just missed out on the Championship play-offs last season, but instead of pushing on, they have gone backwards this term, where they are embroiled in a fight for survival.
Gab Sutton has analysed the next Blackburn Rovers manager odds to bring you five contenders for the job.
Next Blackburn Rovers manager odds
| Manager | talkSPORT BET Odds |
|---|---|
| David Wagner | 5/2 |
| Chris Coleman | 5/2 |
| Slaven Bilic | 4/1 |
| Tony Mowbray | 6/1 |
| Damien Duff | 8/1 |
| Ralph Hasenhuttl | 10/1 |
| Aitor Karanka | 10/1 |
| Wayne Rooney | 10/1 |
| Gary Rowett | 10/1 |
| Dave Challinor | 20/1 |
| Odds correct as of 03/02/2026 |
David Wagner
In the Championship world, David Wagner is best known for his achievements at Huddersfield, whom he inspired to promotion via the play-offs on a bottom-end budget in his first full season in 2016-17; galvanising a fanbase whilst cultivating a brand of frenetic, high-octane football.
Since keeping the Terriers in the Premier League in 2017-18, however, life’s been tougher for the German, who left the West Yorkshire club the following season after an eight-game losing streak.
Wagner then failed at Schalke, and was unable to deliver a fourth consecutive Swiss Super League title in his season with Young Boys, so it was his relationship with former Huddersfield sporting director, Stuart Webber, that earned him a job at Norwich.
In fairness to Wagner, although he was criticised at Carrow Road for performances that were dour away, and at home, reliant on individualism, he did get the Canaries into the play-offs in 2023-24 – a record that looks a bit better in light of the subsequent struggles of Johannes Hoff Thorup and Liam Manning.
Nonetheless, for a manager who hasn’t done categorically good work for eight years, this would be something of a gamble.
Chris Coleman
Chris Coleman surprised the Premier League with his relative longevity and results at Fulham in the mid-noughties, but his career in the subsequent two decades hasn’t gone entirely to plan.
The highlight is undoubtedly his work with Wales, getting them to the semi-finals of Euro 2016; the first tournament they’ve qualified for since the World Cup in 1958.
Other than those two stints, Coleman has probably chosen the wrong jobs, which may not have helped his career reputation.
Since his work with Wales, he was unable to stem the tide at Sunderland, who suffered their second successive relegation under his watch, but without a summer for him to prepare his team, inheriting a difficult situation.
After that, he’s been abroad: a tough stint at Hebei China Fortune preceded a midtable year in Greece with Atromitos. He then departed Cypriot club Aris Limassol by mutual consent – but very amicably with praise for his ethos and character – for an uneventful tenure at OH Leuven, and back to Greece with a challenging time at Astoris Tripolis.
Which begs the question, then, after all that, why choose to work for the Venkys?!
Slaven Bilic
Slaven Bilic’s best career achievements came with Croatia, who infamously knocked out England under his watch in Euro 2008 qualification with a 3-2 final day win at Wembley, with the Vatreni going on to reach the quarter-finals of that tournament under his watch.
Bilic also led West Ham to their fondly remembered final season at Upton Park, achieving a 7th-place finish in 2015-16, and inspired West Brom to promotion from the Championship in 2019-20.
Other than that, though, his career CV looks a little dry, and there may be better options out there.
Tony Mowbray
Tony Mowbray is fondly remembered at Blackburn for leading them to an instant Championship return in 2017-18, before overseeing Championship play-off pushes in subsequent seasons – other than one good year under Jon Dahl Tomasson, they’ve certainly got worse rather than better since he left.
That alone, though, is not necessarily the reason to go for the 62-year-old, who has had health challenges in the last year or two, meaning it would be hard to see him as a candidate for more than the next three months.
Mowbray might be able to offer a safe pair of hands and steady the ship for this season, but the club would definitely need to start drawing up a list of candidates for next year and beyond.
Gary Rowett
If Mowbray is unavailable, Gary Rowett is a very reliable manager at Championship level, despite recent difficulties at Birmingham in 2023-24 and Oxford this season.
Both are easily explained: at St Andrews, Rowett delivered 11 points from his eight games in charge, which gets you top half over a full season, but a remarkable sequence of results elsewhere meant it wasn’t enough.
Whereas, at the Kassam, the former defender did keep the Yellows up last season, and with relative comfort from a sticky spot, but this season he was hamstrung by recruitment not being of the quantity and quality required to compete at the level, and questionable preparation involving lots of commercial and marketing activities in Thailand.
Rowett is a solid, consistent Championship manager, and he’s proven that for 12 years with Birmingham, first stint especially, Derby and Millwall – his teams don’t concede many goals, because they’re so well-drilled.
