Ryan Lowe: Sheffield Wednesday cult hero reportedly on his way to Championship - would shake up League One promotion battle

Ryan Lowe – who played a significant part in Wednesday’s most recent promotion from the third tier in the 2011/12 season – is also a major bookies’ favourite for the job at Preston North End after Frank McAvoy’s surprise departure was announced earlier this week.

The Star’s sister paper the Lancashire Evening Post reported soon after the news that the club’s preferred candidate was a manager already in a job, with reports in the national media naming Lowe outright early on Wednesday morning.

Lowe has quickly developed a reputation as one of the brightest young managers in the Football League, having taken Plymouth Argyle from League Two to the midst of the current promotion shake-up in League One.

Argyle set off as early pace-setters and twice beat Wednesday 3-0 – once in the league and once in the FA Cup – but have suffered something of a wobble in recent weeks, losing their last three league matches.

That leaves them fourth in the table just two points from first place Rotherham United and three points ahead of Wednesday in eighth. Lowe’s departure would surely represent a major blow to Argyle’s promotion hopes.

Speaking to The Star last year, Lowe admitted his love for Sheffield Wednesday and suggested it was a club he would one day like to return to, commenting that the circumstances of his exit as a player meant he was ‘never given a chance to say goodbye.’

“I'm still learning my trade but at some point in the future, I'd love to manage Sheffield Wednesday,” he said.

“In years to come who knows where football takes you? Especially football management. One day, you never know.

“I feel like I've got unfinished business there because of the way I left. I never got a chance to say a proper goodbye to the fans because I was there one minute and then I was being told I had to move on.

“I'd like to think one day I could manage the football club.”