Who is Raphael Wicky? The manager Middlesbrough could replace Rob Edwards with | OneFootball

The 48-year-old ex-Young Boys boss has been touted among a host of potential candidates to replace Edwards at Boro.

With Rob Edwards having now been confirmed as Wolves' new manager, Middlesbrough are once again searching for a new head coach, and one name that has been touted as a potential candidate is Raphael Wicky.

Teesside is hurt.

After all, the figure who both upon and after arrival spoke so highly of the town, its people and the football club he signed a three-year contract with, has betrayed the trust placed in him by chairman Steve Gibson and the supporters, as well as the very words he used to describe the opportunity he'd been given.

However, Teesside is also riled up, with Edwards' actions inadvertently providing fertile ground for fan enthusiasm and pride the likes that haven't been seen for many years at the Riverside, with the pre, during and post-match scenes vs Birmingham City irrefutable evidence of that.

Leaving the club second in the Championship, whichever candidate is lucky enough to be appointed Boro head coach will inherit a playing squad that is clearly capable of making big Premier League promotion push this season, a chairman who will back his man in the dugout in the transfer market, and a fanbase that is ready to get behind them.

One of the names touted for the Riverside vacancy is Raphael Vicky, but who is he, and why might he be on Middlesbrough's shortlist? Football League World investigates...

Middlesbrough head coach candidate Raphael Wicky's playing career

Graduating from Sion's academy system in 1993, Wicky began his professional playing career in his native Switzerland with the Rhône valley-based club.

A combative defensive midfielder by trade, but also a player who was comfortable operating anywhere in defence, he would remain with Sion until 1997.

Here, he would win the Swiss Championship title in 1996/97, whilst also playing his part in helping the club lift the Swiss Cup for three consecutive years between 1994-1997.

It was during this successful period that he made the first of his 75 caps for Switzerland in 1996, which saw him represent his national team at Euro 96 and 2004, as well as the 2006 World Cup.

After making over 130 appearances for Sion, 1997 would see him leave Swiss football to sign for German Bundesliga side, Werder Bremen.

There, Wicky would become an important member of the first-team squad, making over 60 Bundesliga appearances during his first two seasons with the club.

He'd help Bremen to two German Cup finals, both of which his side lost, but was able to win the now defunct UEFA Intertoto Cup, which was a summer competition contested between European clubs.

Come January 2001, Wicky would sign for another big European club, Atlético Madrid, who at the time were playing in Spanish football's second tier and weren't the powerhouse they are today.

However, it would be a brief stay in Madrid for Wicky, as after just 13 appearances in all competitions for the club, he would move back to the Bundesliga in December of that same year, signing for Hamburg.

Wicky would remain with Hamburg until the summer of 2007, and would once again establish himself as a quality player in the German top flight.

He'd also lift the UEFA Intertoto Cup for a second time in 2005, and also helped the club win the now defunct DFL-Ligapokal in 2003, which was a cup competition contested in pre-season between the top five placed clubs from the previous season, as well as the winners of the German Cup.

After making over 160 appearances for Hamburg, Wicky would complete a full-circle transfer by rejoining Sion in 2007.

But, he'd only make a handful of appearances for them before signing for MLS side Chivas USA in 2008, which is the club he would eventually hang his boots up with in March 2009.

Raphael Wicky's coaching career - he's got Champions League pedigree

His first role in coaching following the end of his playing career came in 2009, when he joined Swiss club Thun as a youth coach.

Similar roles would follow over the next few years with Servette and Basel, and it's with the latter who would climb the coaching ladder from Under-18s coach in 2013, all the way up to being handed his first managerial role in the April of 2017 following the departure of Urs Fischer.

After helping the club wrap up the Swiss Super League in the final few games of 16/17 season, as well as lifting the Swiss Cup against Sion of all clubs, Wicky - who can speak four different languages - would spend just one full season in charge of Basel, however.

Indeed, his team's second-placed finish in the Swiss Super League in 17/18 was deemed not good enough to keep him in the job, and it wouldn't be until March 2019 that he would return to coaching.

That next opportunity came when he was named the head coach of the USA Under-17 side in March 2019, before vacating that post in December of that same year to become the head coach of MLS outfit, Chicago Fire.

However, after two years in the 'Windy City', and having missed out on the MLS play-offs by just one point in a Covid-disrupted 2020 season, Wicky was axed, and was now in desperate need of his next head coaching job to go well.

Luckily for him, that's exactly what happened when Swiss side Young Boys took a chance on him in the summer of 2022, and it's a decision they'd never regret.

In his first season in charge, Wicky's boys raced to the Swiss Super League title with 74 points, winning 21 of their 36 games playing a brand of football that was a blend of attacking and high-intensity running and pressing, yet also pragmatic in possession and defence, and also won the Swiss Cup.

Operating almost exclusively out of a 4-4-2 diamond shape, his two main strikers in Jean Pierre Nsame and Cedric Itten bagged 21 and 19 league goals respectively, whilst his team led the league in: goals per game (2.3), goals conceded per game (0.8), average possession (57%), clean sheets (13), shots on target per game (6.1) and expected goals/xG (68.9) - as per FotMob.

The following year, he was axed as Young Boys boss in March 2024 despite having seen the club take on the likes of Manchester City and RB Leipzig in the Champions League, and just weeks before the end of the season with his team still at the top of the league, before caretaker boss Joel Magnin guided the club to the title.

Since then, Wicky has appeared very keen to get back into work, with him being leading candidates for recent vacancies such as Sunderland, West Brom and Rangers respectively.

Therefore, having performed a league and cup double in Switzerland, having international and domestic management experience in the USA, and a successful playing career for both club and country, Wicky could be every bit of a top-class appointment for Middlesbrough to make.