3 managers Wycombe Wanderers must consider ASAP after Michael Duff sacking | OneFootball

Michael Duff is the first managerial casualty in the EFL this season, and these 3 managers should be on hand to replace him at Wycombe

The first managerial casualty in the EFL this season has come in League One, as Wycombe Wanderers have parted ways with Michael Duff.

Duff had been in charge at Adams Park for a little under a year, arriving in mid-September last season following a slow start under Mike Dodds. He oversaw a top-half finish, but like last year, the Chairboys have been slow out of the blocks, winning none of their first six games in all competitions this season.

Granted, it's been a difficult start to the league campaign on paper. Wycombe have faced the likes of Stockport County, Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth Argyle to open the season, but a 3-3 draw against MK Dons on Saturday, in which they threw away a 2-0 lead, was the final straw.

It's no secret that the ownership led by billionaire Mikheil Lomtadze is one of the more ambitious in the third tier, so whoever succeeds Duff will need to turn things around quickly.

Here are three head coaches they should consider as they look to do just that.

Matt Bloomfield

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The overarching number one option to replace Michael Duff should be former Wycombe boss Matt Bloomfield, who arguably oversaw the last successful period at Adams Park before leaving for Luton Town back in January 2025.

Indeed, Wycombe were throwing a real spanner in the works of an expected title battle between Birmingham City and Wrexham during the 2024/25 campaign, with Bloomfield keeping the Chairboys in the top two and within touching distance of the record-breaking Blues until he departed.

It hasn't worked out for him since, suffering relegation from the Championship with both Luton and then Oxford United last season, but it's worth noting that neither side had relegation form while he was in the dugout.

Bloomfield is a Wycombe legend, having spent 19 years there as a player before the couple of years he spent in the dugout. Those in the terraces at Adams Park were disappointed when he jumped ship with the club on the up, but the majority understood that he was ready for a second-tier gig.

He won't have burned too many bridges in leaving, so perhaps a return could be a good way to reignite some of the spark in his managerial career.

Dave Challinor

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You get the feeling that every League One or even bottom-end Championship club looking for a new head coach this season will be giving Dave Challinor a ring to see whether he's ready to return to the dugout.

The 50-year-old has an exceptional managerial record and was the man who took Stockport from the National League to consecutive third-placed finishes in League One in the space of five seasons.

He left Edgeley Park at the end of last season, marking his first break from football since the month following his exit from AFC Fylde in October 2019, before he took charge at Hartlepool United.

With an impeccable record of finishing in the play-offs in all of his 15 full seasons as a manager, any ambitious side would be looking to bring him in. Wycombe will have top-six hopes of their own, and Challinor could oversee those.

Ryan Mason

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Wycombe's statement relieving Duff of his duties stated that the club "believes the time is right to take a new direction," and while a left-field choice, perhaps a turn to a young, up-and-coming head coach could be the decision the higher-ups are making.

Ryan Mason's first dugout role at West Brom last season didn't go to plan, with the club sitting 18th in the Championship at the time of his sacking in early January.

However, the months that followed actually saw the Baggies get worse under Eric Ramsay, which will paint Mason's time at the club with a little more positivity, even if it wasn't all perfect, as the club itself seemed to be undergoing a year of regression regardless of the man in the dugout.

The 35-year-old hasn't been in management since, but with the likes of Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey holding their own in League One dugouts, perhaps Mason could do the same, and a Championship job was a bit of a step too far for a first job.

While Wycombe don't strike as a club ready to undergo a project that may see them back in the second tier in a few years, if they do go down that route, Mason could be the number one candidate to oversee that.