Next Middlesbrough Manager Odds: After Michael Carrick

Gary O’Neil is a seriously interesting name where the next Middlesbrough managerial candidates are concerned. Sure, he doesn’t tick the box of being an experienced manager at Championship level but he did win promotion from the second tier on four occasions as a player – and with four different clubs – and has been involved in a coaching capacity during a promotion.

In addition to understanding what a promotion campaign looks like, his relatively young managerial career has been decent too if you forgive him a pretty torrid end to his time at Wolves. He steered Bournemouth to safety in his first job as a manager and, after what felt like a harsh sacking, then guided Wolves to a 14th placed finish.

With his second season at Wolves ending badly, another Premier League job might not come around very easily for O’Neil despite the fact he’s fairly highly rated. Given he played over 100 games for Middlesbrough between 2007 and 2011, there are several reasons why the parties two could reunite.

If you are a Championship club that holds promotion ambitions then Steve Cooper, who has been out of work since being sacked by Leicester in November, must feature on your list of candidates. Not only does Cooper have a history of achieving results in the second tier but he has delivered survival after promotion too; that is no mean feat.

Cooper twice took Swansea close to promotion, failing in the playoffs on both occasions, before finally getting over the line at Nottingham Forest. With back-to-back Premier League sackings from Forest and the aforementioned Leicester the end of his last two jobs, he might not get a better offer than a crack at a top Championship club.

If Boro are looking for the best possible candidate rather than a hybrid coach-come-marketing tool then they could do a lot worse than explore Cooper’s appetite to get back into the game.

Steven Gerrard doesn’t have the track record that people like Steve Cooper and Gary O’Neil have but he is vastly more experienced as a coach than Michael Carrick was when he landed the Boro job. Purely by name, Gerrard is likely to come up in discussions with most clubs away from the very top level.

Fans might have some reservations with such a link but, actually, Gerrard’s career to date probably means he deserves a stab at Championship level.

The Liverpool legend excelled at Rangers steering them to an unexpected title and whilst he ultimately came up short of expectation at Aston Villa his time there wasn’t a complete car crash when looked at objectively. His time in Saudi Arabia will be largely ignored where coaching credentials are concerned.

As we’ve seen with the likes of Frank Lampard, not quite delivering in the Premier League doesn’t mean you’re an incapable coach and, as such, Gerrard could well follow a similar path with another Premier League job offer not likely to come his way.

We have zero expectation that Gareth Southgate becomes the next Middlesbrough manager. We do, however, expect the bookies to offer his name fairly high up the odds should a vacancy open up.

The former England boss has represented Boro as a player and manager and whilst the club might be keen to bring Southgate back, we just can’t see it.

If, and that’s a big if, Southgate wants another shot at club management he will have his heights set higher than the second tier.