Rodgers? Ange? Gerrard? Carrick? Who will be next Leeds manager after Daniel Farke sack? | OneFootball

Leeds manager Daniel Farke is facing an awkward international break, with the timid nature of the Whites’ 3-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest having taken the lead in a key six-pointer raising further questions about his future.

We do have some sympathy for the way he was let down in the closing days of the transfer window, but the bleak days are starting to significantly outnumber the encouraging ones at Elland Road and in such a keenly contested relegation battle where so many rivals have made their move – or moves in some particularly silly cases – it does feel like change is inevitable in West Yorkshire. Though some sources suggest there is some ‘leniency’ towards Farke.

So then, the next question becomes who replaces him? According to the latest at oddschecker.com, it’s one of these lads.

10=) Russell Martin

It would certainly be a choice, given how well his last crack at Premier League survival went. His time at Rangers didn’t exactly restore his reputation, either. He’s among an interesting and amusing group of joint 10th favourites that includes the obligatory (your Frank Lampards), the unlikely (the Gareth Southgates of this world) and the ‘Club DNA’ options (Robbie Keane, who – fittingly for a man with so many boyhood clubs – was also prominently linked with Wolves).

6=) Mark Robins

Started the work at Coventry that Frank Lampard has taken on so well, and has now steered Stoke right back into the Championship promotion picture. A manager who feels certain to wind up in the Premier League one way or another, but we’d probably advise getting promoted into it rather than trying to save a sinking ship.

6=) Gary O’Neil

There are worse options, despite the way it ended at Wolves. His initial work at both Bournemouth and Wolves paint a picture of a manager well capable of swiftly locating survival form in far harsher initial circumstances than he would find at Leeds. Just make sure you then take the brutal option of replacing him with someone better, as Bournemouth did, rather than handing a big fat contract and having to sack him, as Wolves did.

Current Leeds definitely feels like a better fit than Current Wolves, anyway.

6=) Erik Ten Hag

Ten Hag’s prominence in all manner of Premier League markets feels quite incongruous, because it’s either a really big job that he surely won’t get after the way the last couple of years have gone for him, or a smaller job that feels beneath him. Leeds might just be the sweet spot. It might actually be just crazy enough to work. (It won’t work).

6=) Ange Postecoglou

Absolutely no sympathy now for any relegation battler who is beguiled by the Angeball charms of a man whose record across his last 27 games in the Premier League reads four wins, four draws and 19 defeats. And, in this specific case, with squads that have far more about them than Leeds’.

4=) Michael Carrick

A highly rated young manager, but it does feel like his route into the Premier League is now getting back in at an upwardly mobile Championship club and securing promotion. Especially now the prospect of a cheeky caretaker stint at Man United appears for now to be off the table.

4=) Kjetil Knutsen

Has turned Bodo/Glimt from also-rans into perennial Norwegian champions and frequent botherer of European big guns, which means he’s always a lively wildcard choice on these kinds of lists. We would love to see someone take a punt on him, but it also feels like it would be far better all round as a considered summer decision than a panicked mid-season firefighting one.

3) Steven Gerrard

His last crack at the Premier League was battling relegation with an Aston Villa side that has since become an established European regular under Unai Emery. He should be so lucky, frankly.

2) Brendan Rodgers

Feels inevitable that someone takes this option over the weeks ahead, doesn’t it? Also probably correct. He can be very annoying, but he does have a pretty solid body of Premier League evidence behind him despite assorted nonsenses.

You also know that the big-club history of Leeds would absolutely be something that appeals to the great man.

1) Marco Rose

There’s the obvious Red Bull connection for a manager who has managed both Salzburg and Leipzig as well as Gladbach and, briefly, Borussia Dortmund. A very flaky early favourite for sure, but an interesting one.