Thoughts on the candidates

By: David | June 11th, 2008

Lets have a lookie:

Name: Alan Shearer
Odds: 5-4
History: No managerial experience, but a Rovers legend on the pitch.
Pros: Shearer would certainly be an exciting appointment. He seems to have a good knowledge of the game, he would certainly have the respect of the players (and may convince our key ones to stay), and he could possibly convince a few good players to come in with his reputation.
Cons: No previous experience (obviously). However, more worrying is that we would essentially be a test drive for that inevitable day when Newcastle come calling.
Rating: 7/10

Name: Sam Allardyce
Odds: 7-4
History: Did very well at Bolton, not so well at Newcastle.
Pros: A disciplinarian (though not even he could control Joey Barton), and good at grinding out results. A dominating figure who could bargain well with the board. Can get the best out of not very good players.
Cons: Not at all inspiring or successful in the transfer market. Can’t seem to get much out of very good players. Style of play is boring and monotonous, and worst of all his time at Newcastle showed an inflexibility boarding on arrogance, when he put confidence in a system that wasn’t working and refused to change it.
Rating: 3/10

Name: Paul Ince
Odds: 7-2
History: Saved useless Macclesfield from relegation, and this season took an upward MK Dons storming through League 2 this season.
Pros: An exciting and determined manager who had a fantastic career, playing for Man Utd and Inter Milan. Has been hugely successful so far in management. Like Shearer, his reputation could attract good players. Saving Macclesfield was akin to working miracles.
Cons: No experience at the higher levels of management. MK Dons relative financial power may have flattered him a bit and we certainly do not have such relative financial strength.
Rating: 7/10

Name: Steve McClaren
Odds: 12-1
History: No 2 to Sir Alex during the glory days at Man Utd. Did a good job at Boro and we all know what happened with England.
Pros: Wants the job, which is good to see. Did a very good job at Boro (particularly in cup competitions). Has shown a willingness to learn from his mistakes with England. He could be a very different prospect to the one at Wembley last winter as Mladan Petric drove the ball across Scott Carson.
Cons: England during his tenure were poor and boring - never convincing really. His reputation is in tatters and I’m not sure if I want Rovers to be the place for him to rebuild it. He doesn’t play the media very well at all (though that shouldn’t be too much of a problem here).
Rating: 5/10

The others:

Some less likely prospects:

Michael Laudrup is a very exciting prospect, if unlikely. He has done wonders with Getafe, who are a similarly sized club to us. Hopefully he would be a good mix of Spanish flair and Scandinavian effieciency. 8/10

Dick Advocaat knows how to play attractive football and if he did come to Lancashire he would hopefully bring along some of his UEFA Cup winning Zenit St Petersberg side. He has experience in these isles with Rangers. 8/10

Slaven Bilic has made a name for himself with Croatia and speaks English having played in the EPL. A fantastic character who commands great respect amongst his players and good team spirit. He’s also got a fantastic football brain. He has said he wants to manage in the EPL. 9/10

Even less likely:

Zico has recently left Ferhabache. 8/10
Gordon Strachan may want to return to England. 7/10
Roberto Mancini may be desperate for a job. 8/10
Kenny Dalglish would be popular. 5/10
Avram Grant would be interesting to say the least. 6/10

So my pick would be Bilic, but out of the favourites I would have to go for Laudrup or Ince.