Who Will Be The Next Bournemouth Manager?

After their 2-1 defeat to relegation-threatened Sheffield Wednesday on the 2nd February, Bournemouth parted company with manager Jason Tindall.

Tindall, 43, who had been with the club for the past 22 years, was sacked just six months into the job after the “recent performances and results have fallen well below the board’s expectations”.

The Cherries currently sit in sixth in the Championship having gone on a five game winless run, which saw a 1-1 draw with Millwall and defeats to Luton, Derby, Reading and Sheffield Wednesday, the latter being the final straw for the Bournemouth boss.

This run ended the following Saturday with a 3-2 win at the Vitality Stadium against Birmingham City – with goals from Arnaut Danjuma Groeneveld, Jack Wilshere and Philip Billing – but they are 10 points off top of the table Norwich City and are five points safe inside the playoffs ahead of Middlesbrough.

The club have appointed former Middlesbrough boss Jonathan Woodgate as caretaker manager on a temporary basis, which probably won’t be music to the Bournemouth fans’ ears, after his terrible spell with Boro which saw him get sacked in June 2020 with the club above the relegation zone on goal difference.

So with Woodgate not being a long-term appointment, who is currently in the running for the vacant Bournemouth job?

At 5/6 odds on Sky Bet, former Huddersfield Town and Schalke boss David Wagner is the current favourite to take over from Tindall. Although his time at Schalke was pretty atrocious – they set a club record of 18 straight League defeats from January to September 2020 – he knows how to get a club promoted from the Championship from his unbelievable spell with Huddersfield, which saw them get promoted via the playoffs in 2016/17 and went on to survive in the Premier League the next season.

Behind Wagner is Aston Villa assistant head coach and former Chelsea captain John Terry, who is at 7/2 odds. With Terry being in his role at Villa for over two years, it makes sense for him to want to have a crack at football management and it will be an interesting one if he is to get the job at Bournemouth.

Jonathan Woodgate is third favourite to get the role on a permanent basis, with Frank Lampard being next at 6/1 odds. Following his dismissal at Chelsea last month, Lampard’s next challenge could be at the Vitality and having got Derby County to the 2019 playoff final against Aston Villa in his first ever season as a manager, he’s not a bad candidate for the job.

Other managers listed in the bookies odds include Nigel Pearson and Patrick Vieira (12/1), Tony Pulis (14/1), Harry Redknapp, who is at 18/1 and has been at the Bournemouth training facilities giving Woodgate some help and then Danny Cowley and former Cherries boss Eddie Howe is at 22/1 to make a return to Bournemouth after his eight year spell between 2012 and 2020.

There is certainly some big names being mentioned for the new managerial job at Bournemouth. Personally, Jonathan Woodgate, even though he is third favourite, is not the right man that the club need to get out of this league and that’s purely down to his time at Middlesvrough where he placed them in a relegation fight right from the start of last season.

David Wagner, who is favourite to succeed Jason Tindall, would be a fantastic replacement. He achieved the impossible with Huddersfield in the 2017 playoff final and in the Premiership the following year. He’ll be great for a club like Bournemouth as they look to make a immediate return to the top flight this year.

It;s going to be interesting to see who will get the job and whether they can push the Cherries on and fight for that promotion.