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Next Luton manager odds: Williams, Dyche and Wilshere linked with Hatters
With Matt Bloomfield having left the club, find the latest next Luton manager odds to be the new permanent boss at Kenilworth Road
Former Swansea boss Luke Williams has been installed as the favourite to become the next Luton Town manager by betting sites after the League One club sacked Matt Bloomfield.
Bloomfield oversaw a solid run of form at the end of last season but it wasn’t enough to prevent the club from being relegated to League One, while the first 11 matches of the campaign brought five wins, five losses and a draw – a performance the club called “below the levels expected”.
Luton were playing in the Premier League as recently as the 2023/24 season, and football betting sites had made them favourites to stop the rot and win the third-tier title following two successive relegations.
However, Bloomfield departs with the team sat in 11th, nine points behind leaders Stevenage having played a game more, while they are three points off the play-offs.
The pressure is on to get this appointment right and there are football odds available already on a number of leading candidates to take over at Kenilworth Road.
Williams currently leads the race at odds of 4/1, though he is closely followed by ex-Bolton manager Ian Evatt and Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens.
Next Luton Manager Odds
Manager | Odds | Betting site |
|---|---|---|
Luke Williams | 4/1 | |
Ian Evatt | 5/1 | |
Richie Wellens | 6/1 | |
Leam Richardson | 8/1 | |
Sean Dyche | 8/1 | |
Jack Wilshere | 8/1 | |
Russell Martin | 8/1 | |
Michael Carrick | 14/1 | |
Danny Rohl | 16/1 | |
Wayne Rooney | 16/1 | |
Ian Holloway | 16/1 | |
Gareth Ainsworth | 20/1 | |
Robbie Savage | 33/1 |
Note that according to the terms on most betting sites, “caretaker and interim managers completing at least 10 consecutive competitive games will be deemed the permanent manager”.
Williams is the early front-runner for the Luton job, with the 44-year-old having been out of work since he left Swansea in February of this year.
Despite a run of seven losses in nine matches at the end of his tenure, he took the Swans away from the drop the season before, and he had huge success at his previous club, Notts County, guiding them to promotion from the National League, leaving them in the League Two play-off positions when he moved to south Wales in January 2024.
Below him in the running is another manager who is proven in the lower leagues, with former Bolton boss Ian Evatt having secured promotion from League Two before losing the play-off final in 2024. Having also finished in the play-off spots the season before, he may line up as the most ‘experienced’ candidate in terms of managing Luton’s current situation.
Joining that duo on shorter odds is Leyton Orient manager Richie Wellens, who is another coach with promotion from League Two on his CV. He guided his side to the League One play-off spots last season – eventually losing 1-0 in the play-off final to Charlton – and offers a similar level of experience to Evatt, though he may prove hard to pry away from his current side.
Next Luton Boss Odds: Who’s in the running?
There is a quartet of interesting prospects priced at 8/1, including former Rotherham boss Leam Richardson and Jack Wilshere, who was most recently the interim head coach of Norwich City.
The latter opted against a return to a youth academy role at Arsenal after Norwich decided to make a different permanent appointment, and the former England international is believed to be keen to take the first steps into permanent senior management, though Luton may not regard him as having the requisite experience. As for Richardson, Luton may decide against going with a man who had just two wins across 24 matches in the Championship with the Millers.
However, the other two men priced at 8/1 are far more experienced, even though both may regard a move to Kenilworth Road as a backwards step in their careers.
Sean Dyche has not managed since leaving Everton, with the Toffees close to the relegation zone in January when the former Burnley man departed. While he is an ideal candidate to steady the ship at Kenilworth Road, it is surely unlikely that he would take such a step down the pyramid to manage in the third tier.
And the same can likely be said for former Rangers boss Russell Martin, who was sacked on 5 October after a disastrous spell in charge at Ibrox. Again, he’ll likely regard it as too much of a step down, but the Luton job could offer him a good opportunity to steady his own career after disappointment at Southampton too.
Next Luton Manager Odds: Outsiders for Kenilworth Road hotseat
As with the quartet above, there are a few intriguing options available at longer odds, including former Manchester United duo Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney, as well as current Swindon Town boss Ian Holloway.
At 14/1, Carrick is certainly an outside shout, and with the ex-Middlesbrough boss having only just left the club after seeing mixed success on Teesside, he’s likely to want to continue at a similar level in the league pyramid.
Conversely, Rooney could be someone who considers the job, with the former Plymouth boss yet to experience the same level of success as his counterparts on this list. While his time in Washington and the south coast haven’t been as encouraging, the step down could suit him for now if the Hatters were to be interested, although he has taken a number of new media roles at the BBC this season.
Two more managers are priced at 16/1 along with Rooney, with Danny Rohl a candidate after leaving Sheffield Wednesday ahead of the new season. He’s another manager who’s impressed of late and the job could come at a good time for a manager who is still very young for the job at just 36.
At the other end of the age scale, 62-year-old Swindon boss Ian Holloway has rediscovered his knack for the job after a few years away from the game, though the fact that he signed a new contract in March suggests he may be happy to stay with the Robins
The odds start to get too long below Holloway, though Gareth Ainsworth and Robbie Savage are interesting options at 20/1 and 33/1 respectively. The former has a more complicated situation at present despite impressing during his time at Gillingham, while Savage may be too early into his managerial career to be considered by the Hatters, despite going well at Forest Green since taking over in July.
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