Sheffield Wednesday’s next manager? - Former Manchester City man Joey Barton leaps into list of bookies’ favourites for Hillsborough job

There was a tumultuous end to the year for the Owls, with Chansiri firing Tony Pulis just after Christmas, and Neil Thompson – the new caretaker manager – going on to win back-to-back games at Hillsborough to climb out of the relegation zone.

With the January transfer window now open, the Wednesday chairman will no doubt be eager to try and get a new manager in as soon as possible so that he has chance to try and bring in a couple of players for what he wants to do at the club, but Thompson’s start has certainly given Chansiri a bit of breathing space.

The likes of Thorsten Fink, Paul Cook, Danny Cowley, Paco Jemez, Gus Poyet and Jose Morais have all been mentioned with regards to being in the running for the job, however The Star understands that Poyet and Morais are not being considered at this point in time – the others, however, may be potential options.

Now, on the back of his departure from Fleetwood Town, Joey Barton has become the latest name linked with the vacant position at S6, links given credence due to the fact that he’s newly available.

Some may have thought his exit was due to having something else lined up elsewhere, but comments from Fleetwood’s Andy Pilley suggest that it was more their decision than his.

Pilley said on the club’s official website, “I'd like to put on record my thanks to Joey Barton for job he's done during his time at Fleetwood Town… Joey has been a pleasure to have at the club and I'm sure he will go onto have a hugely successful career. Today's decision was a tough one for me to make, but I felt now was the right time for the club to go in a different direction.”

At the time of writing the 10 bookies favourites were:

Paul Cook – 6/5

Joey Barton – 7/4

Danny Cowley – 10/1

Gus Poyet – 8/1

Danny Cowley – 10/1

Thorsten Fink – 10/1

Neil Thompson – 12/1

Paco Jemez – 12/1

Jose Morais – 16/1

Nigel Pearson – 20/1

Chansiri is desperate not to make the wrong appointment, so may well take some time before making his final decision.

More Owls news

Sheffield Wednesday terminate loan - Defender heads home

Wednesday contracts and agents - Dejphon Chansiri discusses

Managerless Wednesday yet to sort out a number of contracts

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