Next Colchester United Manager Odds

Colchester United are on the search for a new manager following Matt Bloomfield’s departure to join former club Wycombe Wanderers after long-serving Chairboys coach Gareth Ainsworth took the vacancy at QPR.

The 39-year-old managed Col U just 28 times, winning nine and drawing six times, equating to a win percentage of 32%. The Essex-based club currently sit 19th in League Two and will be determined to have a permanent appointment soon as they look to consolidate their place in the division for another season.

Here, we take a look at the names that have been lined up to succeed Bloomfield.

Ben Garner is one of the favourites to take the role despite his sacking from Charlton Athletic back in early December.

The 42-year-old was sacked after winning just nine and drawing 12 of his 29 matches in charge of the Addicks. This was following a good spell as Swindon Town manager last season where he narrowly missed out on promotion to League One after a penalty shoot-out defeat to Port Vale in the semi-finals of the play-offs.

Garner will be looking to rebuild his career once again, having previously had struggles in his first managerial role at Bristol Rovers between December 2019 and November 2020 where he won just nine of his 36 matches in charge.

Former Portsmouth manager Danny Cowley is also on the lookout for a new job, having recently had his contract terminated by the South Coast club.

The 44-year-old lost his job at Fratton Park last month having failed to win a league game for over two months, leaving Pompey in 12th, while his overall managerial record of the club lies at 42 wins and 27 draws from 97 matches, equating to a 43.3% win percentage.

Cowley previously managed Huddersfield Town in the Championship for a total of 40 matches, winning 13 and drawing 11, consolidating the Terriers' place in the division during the 2019/20 season.

His three-year spell at Lincoln City will be remembered as his best managerial spell to date, having won two promotions from the National League (2016/17) and League Two (2018/19) by winning each division, on top of this, the Imps also won the EFL Trophy in 2018, while being the first side in over 100 years to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup outside of the Football League in the 2016/17 season.

Worthing manager Adam Hinshelwood has also been linked with the vacancy at Colchester.

The 39-year-old who previously played for Brighton & Hove Albion between 2002 and 2009 has been Worthing manager since 2017, overseeing their league title win in the Isthmian Premier League last campaign, while also winning National League South manager of the month, with his side sitting fifth in the standings.

Head of Recruitment, Ross Embleton has recently announced that he will be taking over as an Interim Manager of Colchester.

Embleton had previously been manager of Leyton Orient between January 2020 and February 2021, but, was sacked following some poor results. The 41-year-old has held his role at the JobServe Community Stadium since June of last year and may fancy his chances of becoming the U’s manager if he can get some positive results against the likes of Bradford City, Stockport County and his old club in Orient.

Another ex-Charlton Athletic manager in Lee Bowyer is also on this list.

The former Leeds United midfielder has plenty of managerial experience, as the 45-year-old managed the Addicks between March 2018 and 2021, winning 64 and drawing 37 of his matches in charge, leading them to promotion to the Championship back in 2018/18 via the play-offs.

Following his spell at Charlton, Bowyer decided to return to his former club Birmingham City in March 2021, where he had a less successful spell with the then cash-strapped club. Bowyer oversaw just 17 wins in 59 matches until the end of his reign in July.

Liam Manning has been linked with the job at Colchester.

Manning recently managed MK Dons who missed out on automatic promotion by just one point during his first season in charge (2021/22) before losing out in the play-offs. During his first season at Stadium MK, Manning won EFL League One Manager of the Month in both September and January.

The 37-year-old was sacked by MK having seen his side accumulate just 15 points from 20 matches which is in stark contrast to that of his first campaign in charge. Overall, Manning finished his time at MK Dons with a 48% win percentage, having won 40 and drawing 15 of his 83 matches in charge.

Prior to his role at the Dons, Manning had been West Ham’s Under 23s head coach between 2015 and 2019 before joining City Football Group, where he would take up coaching roles at New York City FC, which then lead to him being transferred over to Belgian second-tier side Lommel SK as head coach between 2020 and 2021 - Manning would lead them from bottom of the table to a third-place finish in his only season at the club.

Former Crewe Alexandra manager David Artell is the final manager on this list.

The 41-year-old is without a club following his departure from Gresty Road last season upon Alexandra’s relegation, with that role being his only managerial job to date, having held that role for five years.

During his time as Crewe manager, Artell oversaw their promotion to League One via a second-place finish in League Two in the 2019/20 season. The former Rotherham United defender managed Alexandra 274 times, winning 100 matches and drawing 51, seeing him have a win percentage of 36.5%.

Former Forest Green manager Ian Burchnall is also in with a shout of getting the job.

Burchnall was sacked as manager of Forest Green having won just 11 of his 37 games at the helm, leaving the club at the bottom of League One.

Prior to this, Burchnall had impressed at Notts County, winning 51% of his matches in charge, having won 36 and drawn 16 of his 71 games with the Meadow Lane club from March 2021 to May 2022.

Notably, Burchnall was manager of Ostersunds having effectively taken Graham Potter’s old role as manager following the latter’s departure to Swansea City. During his time at Ostersunds, he consolidated their place in the top-flight of Swedish football, even finishing sixth place in his first of two campaigns as manager between July 2018 and 2020.

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