Nine candidates to replace Gary Rowett as Millwall manager

Gary Rowett has departed Millwall, after delivering four consecutive top half finishes – who next for the Lions?

EFL pundit Gab Sutton discusses nine candidates, in no particular order...

1. Kevin Muscat

Millwall’s most popular managers tend to have been the ones with a previous association with the club – see ‘Rhino’ Stevens, Dennis Wise, and Neil Harris.

By appointing Kevin Muscat, the Lions would be ticking that box and bringing in a legendary figure, given the mark he made on the South Bermondsey club in his two years at the Den.

On the flip side, they’d be appointing a progressive coach, and somebody who has won the J1 League (top tier in Japan) title.

Muscat likes quick, direct wide players, which Millwall have in the likes of Duncan Watmore and Romain Esse, and a goalscoring centre-forward, which could be Tom Bradshaw if he can find the form that saw him score two hat-tricks last season more consistently.

2. John Eustace

John Eustace comes away from his stint with Birmingham with his reputation massively enhanced, especially as a number one.

The former Kidderminster boss has done great work as an assistant to Steve McClaren and Mark Warburton at QPR, and to Stephen Kenny with Ireland, but now he’s proven he can do the business as the head honcho.

The 43-year-old connects with fans, has a great relationship with the players he manages, establishes a clear playing identity which involves sustaining pressure in a defensively responsible way, whilst being able to counter-attack efficiently when required – and he improves players individually too with the quality of his coaching.

Eustace’s Blues exit has to be treated differently to most sackings, because rather than being down to footballing or political reasons, it was simply a case of the club wanting a star name as manager, almost certainly for numbers when they inevitably announce a Netflix documentary.

Eustace not being a global name has nothing to do with his capabilities as a manager, so this is a great opportunity for Millwall to take somebody of his quality without having to pay compensation.

3. Danny Cowley

Danny Cowley’s style of football is something a lot of Millwall fans would take too.

The Havering-born boss uses the term ‘against the ball’ rather than ‘off the ball’ to describe out-of-possession work, highlighting how aggressive he wants his teams to be, reminiscent perhaps of the intense high-line system we saw under Neil Harris in 2017/18’s unlikely Play-Off charge.

Cowley has similar people skills to Harris, and a willingness to invest in the local community that is important at any club, perhaps especially one with Millwall’s traditional values.

Plus, while Harris’ methods are comparatively simplistic, and more focused on his own team, the Cowley brothers are meticulous in their work, and the way they study their opponents.

This can sometimes get construed as a negative characteristic – i.e. being worried about the opposition – on the contrary, it can be a positive trait, in terms of spotting weaknesses and knowing the right areas to exploit as well as negate.

Plus, Cowley likes his teams to look for early, positive forward passes, so while they aren’t the old-fashioned long ball merchants they’re often stereotyped as, they do like their teams to play with an urgency that will please natives, especially at home. 

The 44-year-old has delivered competitive results everywhere he’s been, and while external circumstances have gone against the duo for different reasons over the last few years, they’ll soon prove themselves more than capable operators at Championship level.

4. Michael Beale

Steven Gerrard once said he’d have to work for 15-20 years to become half the coach Mick Beale is.

After an illustrious coaching career that involves working his way up the youth scene at Chelsea, assisting iconic goalkeeping great Rogério Ceni at São Paulo, a brief period at Liverpool before linking up with Gerrard at Rangers, Beale is out to make it as a number one.

The 43-year-old led QPR to the top of the Championship in October of his first season, before a run of one point from five preceded a World Cup interlude, during which he left for the Rangers north of the border, before being sacked 11 months later.

Beale is a hugely talented coach, but the fact he didn’t stay to see out his work at Loftus Road suggests somebody who doesn’t have a huge amount of care for the clubs he manages, and is heavily focused on his own individual career goals.

That might be understandable, but at an insular club like Millwall who fare best when they have a stronger connection with their manager, it may be a bad fit.

5. Neil Warnock

Considering Neil Warnock has been keen of late to continue his media career, book-writing and touring, it’s hard to see him having the drive to commit to anything long-term at 74.

It’s true, the wily campaigner did superbly to keep Huddersfield up last season with six wins in their final nine, but it suits him a lot more coming in at a late stage, working 10 weeks of a year and using his experience to man manage a group, which is a huge part of the job at the business end.

In Millwall’s case, they’re unlikely to be relegated or promoted, so it’s a bigger job than that and one that is unlikely to suit Warnock – not to mention the fact he’s been something of a pantomime villain at the Den throughout his career.

6. Adam Barrett

The indications are that Rowett’s departure was initiated more by him than by the board, in which case the club may favour continuity.

Adam Barrett did an excellent job as caretaker four years ago, after Harris left, and has since bolstered his coaching experience under Rowett, stepping in as the number one on occasion, and being a valued member of the staff.

If the interim period becomes lengthy, there’s a world in which Barrett fares so well as caretaker that it gets to the point where the fans want him to get the job permanently, the players are on board and the club almost can’t give it to anyone else.

7. Nathan Jones

Nathan Jones might not have been the person who started or finished Luton’s nine-year rise from non-league to the Premier League, but he played an enormous part in it.

Jones had the Hatters playing the most delightful, swashbuckling football in his first spell, which saw them become the first team in Football League history to score seven or more goals in three separate league games before Christmas.

In his second spell, Jones evolved the playing style into something more pragmatic, and changed formation regularly, as opposed to sticking with the diamond, which worked a treat at Kenilworth Road but hadn’t worked so well at Stoke.

The fiery Welshman kept the Hatters in the Championship from an ominous situation in 2019/20, and attained a top-half finish the following season before 2021/22’s Play-Off Semi-Final defeat to Huddersfield.

Jones left early the following season for a stint at Southampton that didn’t work out, and what was perceived as charisma in LU4, was taken as arrogance in SO14.

The 50-year-old has rubbed people up the wrong way sometimes, but he’s had a chance to reflect on his experiences, and a wizened version of Jones, that still has the coaching ability we saw at Luton, could be quite the candidate.

8. Dean Holden

Dean Holden has vast experience at Championship level, having both coached and managed at Bristol City and Stoke, albeit the latter was a brief interim stint in which he oversaw back-to-back victories.

In the former case, his side were in the top six after each of their first 17 games bar three – and they were sixth, a point off second and four off top following mid-December 1-0 victory over Blackburn.

After that, the injury crisis intensified, and a list of absentees which averaged eight throughout the season extended to 17 at its worst, which led to a run of nine defeats in 12 in which the team slipped down the table.

Owner Steve Lansdown would have stuck with Holden at that point with a 49% win ratio, but wasn’t the chief decision-maker due to being in a COVID bubble.

At Charlton, Holden steered the Addicks from 18th in December to 11th, but was dismissed five games into the subsequent campaign, despite good performance data with an imbalanced squad that was missing key men Scott Fraser, Panutche Camará and Miles Leaburn.

Holden feels he’s capable of managing at Championship level: his belief is in creating a positive environment which empowers players and staff to flourish, and perform at their best every day.

9. Mark Bonner

Mark Bonner has done fantastic work at Cambridge over the last three-and-a-half years.

In the rookie’s first full season as a manager, he steered the U’s to automatic promotion from League Two, converting Paul Mullin – previously known as a single-digit striker at League Two level, who works hard and has a decent string – into a 32-goal man.

Bonner steered the club to a safe, midtable finish in their first season in League One, too, developing the likes of Jubril Okedina and Harvey Knibbs significantly in 2021/22.

Last season was the toughest of his reign, but three crucial additions in January plus the loan recall of Liam Bennett saw an instant improvement in performances, and when the turnaround in results didn’t come straight away, Bonner stayed true to himself, and his authentic leadership created a calming environment which enabled his players to do the business at the end of the campaign with four wins in nine.

The 37-year-old is an intelligent coach proven to deliver on a budget, with the flexibility to respond to adversity, whilst building a level-headed, honest culture, and a team that can thrive against the odds.

Bonner has many similar characteristics to Gary Rowett, and if the club is keen on continuity, they could look at poaching him from Cambridge, after Rotherham’s interest last season. 

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