Who is Neil Thompson? The Sheffield Wednesday caretaker manager in charge against Middlesbrough

In 141 words, that was that. A 141-word statement late last night brought an end to Tony Pulis’ 45-day reign as Sheffield Wednesday manager.
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It was a turbulent one, for sure. One win, five draws, 10 matches and an awful lot of hinting at what needed to change at the club without explicit detail.

But now, just three days on from the opening of a transfer window that a man of Pulis’ experience said required an ‘influx’ of transfers into the club, he is gone. And this evening, Neil Thompson will take on the role as caretaker manager, in doing so becoming the fifth man to take charge of Wednesday in a little over 18 months.

It’s a remarkable set of numbers.

Sheffield Wednesday will be lead by Neil Thompson this evening.Sheffield Wednesday will be lead by Neil Thompson this evening.
Sheffield Wednesday will be lead by Neil Thompson this evening.
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Plenty more will be read and spoken about Pulis’ reign, the shortest permanent tenure of any Owls boss, in the coming hours, days and weeks.

But what of the man chosen to step into his shoes for a week or two? It is not yet known how quickly Wednesday intend to make their next permanent appointment, nor if they have options already lined up to take the Welshman’s place.

We also do not yet have confirmation of the circumstances of Craig Gardner and Mike Trusson, who were brought in as Pulis’ backroom staff members last month.

What we do know is that Thompson will take to the Hillsborough dugout to take on Neil Warnock’s Boro.

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He is a coach very well known to the players having featured heavily in the first team set-ups of both Garry Monk and Tony Pulis. Though there were no matches in the time between the two reigns, it was Thompson who led senior training.

The former defender, who played for Hull, Scarborough, Ipswich and briefly in the Premier League for Barnsley before York and a return to Scarborough, has been on board at Hillsborough for nearly a decade having joined under Gary Megson.

He has spent much of that time with the academy, leading the Owls Under-23s to the PDL North and National title in 2016/17.

Previously he managed three of his former clubs; York, Scarborough and Boston, before stepping into backroom staff roles, including an academy manager role at Leeds United before joining Wednesday.

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There’s a big job on here, however long he’s asked to do it.

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