The 41-year-old was relieved of his duties as Wolves manager in mid-December but after two months of being out of work, a return to the dugout is a real possibility. Blackburn are on the lookout for a new manager after John Eustace made the shock decision to leave them to go and re-join his former club Derby County.
A little over a week in to their manager search and an update has emerged on Blackburn’s plans. Former Blues midfielder Gary O’Neil will hold talks with the Ewood Park club this week according to the Lancashire Telegraph. It will be interesting to see whether they can persuade him to return to management just a few months out from his sacking and join them in the midst of a promotion battle.
Blackburn find themselves in fifth with 13 games left in their season. Caretaker boss David Lowe has so far overseen wins over West Brom and Plymouth Argyle, and that is making it an attractive proposition for any manager.
Blackburn Rovers manager latest
With the talks not yet taking place, things are at a preliminary stage, and the two parties will get a feel for whether they are the right fit for each other when discussions begin. If a deal can be reached, however, then there is a possibility for him to make a return to the club where his career began.
Pompey are due to host Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, March 29. It would be the first time that O’Neil has managed against the club where he started out. As a player he came up against them three times, all when he was at Middlesbrough.
The former Norwich City man had a win in which he supplied the assist for Tuncay to score, whilst he was also on the losing side when a Jermain Defoe brace beat them in August 2008. The last time he played against them was in October 2010 when both Boro and Pompey were battling it out in the Championship.
O’Neil isn’t the only name that has been spoken about however he does seem to be in a pretty good position for the job. Rob Edwards is available after leaving Luton Town but it’s yet unclear what either parties intentions are. Blackburn are also said to have held an interest in Lee Carsley who had an interim spell in charge of the England eam, but he wants to remain in international management.
Steven Gerrard is out of work after leaving Al Ettifaq in the Saudi Pro League but there’s nothing to suggest he is a candidate. George Boateng or Luis Boa Morte are not under consideration either.
Gary O’Neil’s career including Pompey spell
O’Neil had a playing career which spanned 20 years and began on the South Coast. He was given his debut in men’s football by Tony Pulis when the club were in the old First Division. Pulis only used him on a sparingly basis after that as well as Steve Claridge, but Graham Rix had no qualms in throwing him in when they needed to avoid relegation.
Harry Redknapp came in and it was under him where he played most of his football. He was part of the side that won promotion to the Premier League in 2003, playing 30 times in their title-winning campaign. O’Neil would later go on to make 192 appearances for the club over nine years.
Middlesbrough signed him for a reported £5m and he had three-and-a-half-seasons up there before going to West Ham, helping them win promotion via the play-offs and then QPR where he reunited with Redknapp. His career wound down playing for Norwich City, Bristol City and then Bolton Wanderers.
Since 2020 he has been involved in coaching, working at Liverpool’s under-23s, before working under Jonathan Woodgate and Scott Parker at Bournemouth and then becoming the main man at the Vitality Stadium. After his sacking Wolves appointed him to replace Julen Lopetegui and he guided them to a 14th-placed finish but a poor first half of the campaign saw him axed from his job at Molineux.
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