Sheffield Wednesday are currently in dire straits. After a 3-0 defeat at Leicester on Saturday, the Owls have dropped into the Championship relegation places and are currently third from bottom. They have not won a game now since the 17th October.
It is perhaps no surprise therefore that their manager, Brian Laws a former Clarets player left by mutual consent on Sunday fuelling speculation about a possible replacement.
One former Clarets manager linked to the job is Steve Cotterill who has been out of the managerial limelight since leaving Turf Moor in November 2007.
He has often been linked with managerial roles but nothing has come to fruition to date.
In August 2008 he was offered a chance to become the Head Coach and Technical Director of USL First Division Minnesota Thunder replacing Amos Magee.
Cotterill was offered a temporary seven-week contract with a view to a longer deal when the season ended. It would however have taken two weeks to sort out a work permit for the States and he never took up the opportunity
Since that time there have been plenty of rumours but to date Steve Cotterill has not returned to football management and has only been seen on Sky Sports trying a bit of football punditary.
He had been linked to the Tranmere role after the sacking of John Barnes and he had also been rumoured to be at London Road following the departure of former, Peterborough manager, Darren Ferguson.
One paper though strongly believes Steve Cotterill is being lined up for the Sheffield Wednesday job and indeed think he is the favourite to take over.
Peter Lansley in an artcile for ‘The Times Online’ believes the crucial link could be Howard Wilkinson. Wilkinson is a former Wednesday manager who returned to Hillsborough in January 2009 after being appointed as a technical adviser by new Owls chairman, Lee Strafford.
Cotterill is of course well-known to Wilkinson. Following the departure of Peter Reid as Sunderland manager in October 2002, Howard Wilkinson took over and worked with Steve Cotterill as his assistant. It was a disastrous time though for Sunderland and by March 2003, Wilkinson had been sacked with the Black Cats at the foot of the Premier League having won only twice in 20 league games. Cotterill also left and eventually became the Clarets manager in the summer of 2004.
Lansley also believes Cotterill is the right man for the Owls job and states:
‘Cotterill has built his reputation as a Championship survivor in laying the foundations at Burnley. The majority of the team he put together over a three-year spell in charge at Turf Moor helped Owen Coyle, his successor, to secure promotion to the Barclays Premier League in May`s play-off final’
The Owls task is to retain Championship status under severe financial constraints and Lansley intimates this was exactly the position Cotterill faced when he took over as manager at Turf Moor.
There are certainly some interesting parallels but is this just another rumour like all the rest? Tell us what you think below this article or in our forums.
A number of other managers are reported to be in the frame for the job at Sheffield Wednesday. The latest being Nigel Worthington who has declared an interest in the position.Worthington’s Northern Ireland contract expires at the end of 2009 and he has yet to sign a new deal despite talks with the Irish Football Association. He looks to be interested in returning to the club he played for between 1984-1994.
Darren Ferguson, Paul Hart and George Burley have all been linked along with current Owls caretaker manager,Sean McAuley
Other names in the frame for the job include Paul Jewell, Gary McAllister, Kevin Keegan, Iain Dowie, Craig Levein, Gareth Southgate and Dan Petrescu.
It could take some time before we know who gets the role. Owls chairman, Lee Strafford. said recently after the departure of Laws:
‘We will not rush into the next permanent appointment as this will be a key appointment in terms of determining the long-term future of our club’
Oh well good luck to Steve, it would be good to see him back in management sooner rather than later. I think he could do a job at Wednesday and I hope he gets the job and proves me right
Share this article
