Next Preston North End Manager Odds

Preston North End are the first club in the English Football League to be on the look out for a new manager following the shock resignation of Ryan Lowe after just one game of the 2024/25 season.

The Lilywhites were beaten 2-0 by Sheffield United on matchday one, prompting the 45-year-old Liverpudlian to depart, having felt as though he’d taken the club as far as he could.

Lowe was appointed as manager of Preston on 7th December 2021 after a successful spell at Plymouth Argyle. The former Bury forward managed the Deepdale club 125 times, winning 47 games, drawing 31 and losing 47, equating to a respectable win percentage of 37.60%.

Since then, North End have played two fixtures under the management of Interim Manager Mike Marsh, beating Sunderland 2-0 in the League Cup before suffering a heavy 3-0 loss away at Swansea City. The ex-Liverpool midfielder has since departed Deepdale, meaning that Preston are to become the first team in English Football League history to have three different coaches manage them in their first three league fixtures.

Paul Heckingbottom is the firm favourite for the vacant managerial role at Preston.

The 47-year-old has a decent managerial reputation, as he memorably oversaw Barnsley’s promotion to the Championship via the play-offs in 2015/16 while also managing to win the EFL Trophy that campaign.

On top of this, Heckingbottom managed to earn a second-place finish in the Championship with Sheffield United in 2022/23, despite the Blades’ financial position being poor. He was sacked back in December 2023 with the Blades looking like certainties to be relegated from the Premier League.

Former Preston-North End midfielder Bryan Barry-Murphy is also on the shortlist having left Manchester City’s EDS coaching staff.

The 46-year-old left City with a good reputation after three year as manager of their Elite Development Squad and could perhaps be of great help to North End due to his contacts in the game.

Before his time with Manchester City, Barry-Murphy was manager of Rochdale where he oversaw 109 matches, winning 34, drawing 28 and losing 47, equating to a 31.2% win percentage.

Alex Neil has seen his odds slashed to re-join Preston as manager having been out of work since December 2023 when he was sacked by Stoke.

The Scotsman has three promotions to his name as a manager, having won the Scottish Championship play-offs with Hamilton in 2014, before winning the EFL Championship play-offs with Norwich in 2016 and the League One play-offs as manager of Sunderland in 2022.

Neil oversaw 191 matches in charge of Preston between July 2017 and March 2021, winning 72 and drawing 48, leaving him with a solid win percentage of 37.7% considering the squad at financial resources at his disposal - during his time at Deepdale, the Lilywhites managed to record seventh and ninth place finishes.

Crawley Town manager Scott Lindsey has emerged as the firm favourite for the vacancy at Deepdale.

The 52-year-old has recently rose to prominence after earning promotion via the League Two play-offs with Crawley Town in the 2023/24 season. The promotion itself was a surprise, as the Red Devils were in a relegation battle during the 2022/23 campaign when Lindsay took over.

Between June 2022 and January 2023, Lindsay managed Swindon Town, overseeing 30 matches, winning 10, drawing eight and losing 12, departing the Robins in eighth place to join Crawley.

David Moyes one of the shock favourites for the vacancy at Deepdale following his departure from West Ham United at the end of the 2023/24 season.

The 61-year-old actually started his managerial career off at Preston between January 1998 and March 2002, overseeing 234 games, even earning promotion from the old English Football League Second Division (now League One) in 1999/2000.

Since then, Moyes has managed the likes of Everton, Manchester United, Real Sociedad, Sunderland and West Ham, with his biggest achievement arguably being the Irons UEFA Europa Conference League triumph in the 2022/23 campaign.

It must be said, that this would be a major coup for North End.

Former Preston striker David Healy is also in the running for the job.

The Northern Irishman has been manager of Linfield since 2015 and has a tremendous record there, having won five league titles, two Irish cups, three Northern Irish League Cups while also being named as Manager of the Year four times.

Healy would have an instant connection with fans of the Deepdale club having played there between 2001 and 2004, scoring 45 times in 139 league matches.

Gary Rowett has been out of work since leaving Birmingham City at the end of the 2023/24 campaign.

The 50-year-old did a solid job at St Andrew’s in his eight matches in charge, but, was unable to prevent the Blues from being relegated to League One - he oversaw eight matches, winning three and drawing two.

Rowett has had some positive managerial spells throughout his career at the likes of Burton Albion, Birmingham, Derby County and Millwall where he has often maximised the potential of his squads, even when on strict budgets. Perhaps, Rowett could be a good fit for the job at Preston.

Callum Davidson would likely be a popular choice to take over at Preston due to his legendary status at the club.

During his playing days, Davidson made a total of 166 league appearances for the Lilywhites between 2004 and 2011.

Davidson’s first managerial role came at St Johnstone between June 2020 and April 2023 where he memorably won both the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup during his first campaign in charge (2020/2021).

The 48-year-old currently manages Queen’s Park where he has overseen 23 matches in charge, winning 10 and drawing six thus far.

Anthony Barry's Odds: 25/1

David Wagner's Odds: 25/1

Jermain Defoe's Odds: 25/1

Lee Johnson's Odds: 25/1

Paul Gallagher's Odds: 25/1

Des Buckingham's Odds: 28/1

Ashley Cole's Odds: 33/1

Chris Hughton's Odds: 33/1

Nicky Butt's Odds: 33/1

Mick McCarthy's Odds: 40/1

Kolo Toure's Odds: 50/1

Paul Cook's Odds: 50/1

• Latest match predictions
• Football tips
• Football accumulator tips
• Football bet of the day