Bristol City are looking for Liam Manning’s replacement after he completed his summer move to Norwich CityDave Challinor and John Mousinho have been mentioned by Bristol City fans as Liam Manning’s potential successor (Image: PA Wire and Getty Images)

Bristol City are on the hunt for a new head coach for the second time in under two years after Liam Manning completed his move to Norwich City.

The Robins confirmed in an official statement on Tuesday evening that the 39-year-old would leave his position at Ashton Gate with immediate effect to take over the reins at Carrow Road. Manning’s assistant coaches Chris Hogg and James Krause are expected to join him in Norfolk but Bristol Live understands Norwich are yet to meet the release clauses in their contracts at this stage.

When the Reds were last without a head coach or manager in 2023, having sacked Nigel Pearson following a Severnside derby defeat to Cardiff City in South Wales, it took them just over a week to appoint Manning. The process to appoint Pearson himself after Dean Holden’s exit was similarly swift, but it took City over a month to name Holden as Lee Johnson’s successor all the way back in 2020.

While the Robins have time to get this appointment right, and boy do they need to get it right to ensure the progress made under Manning isn’t lost, with more than two months until the start of the 2025/26 season, they won’t want to wait too long with the summer transfer window already open and pre-season around the corner.

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On the face of it, the Ashton Gate vacancy is an attractive job with both the stadium and the High Performance Centre proving to be very appealing. This is also a group of players and a football club that managed to secure a play-off spot last season despite not being particularly fancied. Though the suggestion from Steve Lansdown has been that there won’t be a war chest for the new head coach to spend over the course of the summer transfer window, that doesn’t mean City can’t do business ahead of the new season, particularly as there was money for Manning to spend this time last year.

Of course, anyone taking on the job would like to put their own stamp on the group, but Manning has left behind a competent side that just needs a bit more strength and depth in a few areas.

If history tells us anything, it would be not to rule out any surprises at this stage. As we mentioned earlier, previous appointments in BS3 have come as a shock, namely that of Holden, so it would be wrong to assume the process would be straightforward.

With vacancies open at Middlesbrough and Hull City at the time of writing and speculation around the future of both Ruud van Nistelrooy at Leicester City and Danny Rohl at Sheffield Wednesday, there are plenty of Championship clubs in the market for a new head coach at this current moment. Regardless of the competition, the Robins should have a bit of a pull given their success last term.

The Reds are yet to lay out any real ethos or attributes when it comes to what they’re looking for in their new head coach, with chairman Jon Lansdown simply stating that City are “assessing all options” in the club’s statement confirming Manning’s exit. With that in mind, we’ve picked out five candidates that could be considered…

Rob Edwards

The early bookmakers’ favourite and a name that has been mentioned plenty by supporters since speculation emerged over Liam Manning’s future, on face value alone, Rob Edwards seems to be a good fit for Bristol City.

Edwards has two EFL promotions to his name having guided Forest Green Rovers to League One as League Two champions for the first time in their history before leading Luton Town to the Premier League in the 2022/23 campaign. Yes, he played a part in the Hatters’ back-to-back relegations from the top flight to League One over the course of the last two seasons but it would be wrong to suggest all the blame for those miserable two years lays at his door.

Rob Edwards has been linked with upcoming vacancy at Bristol City(Image: Photo by Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images)

The 42-year-old has been without a club since departing Kenilworth Road in January of this year and Bristol Live has been told previously he would be interested in taking over the reins at Ashton Gate. Reports elsewhere have suggested the Welshman could be a candidate to replace Michael Carrick at Middlesbrough but it remains to be seen how serious the Riverside club’s interest is.

Edwards has proven to be adaptable in his managerial career and has not been afraid to change his style depending on the task at hand. On paper, he seems like a good fit to help City continue to progress following Manning’s departure.

Ruben Selles

Another name that has cropped up both with the bookies and amongst supporters since Liam Manning’s departure was confirmed, Ruben Selles has been without a club since departing Hull City.

The Spaniard had only arrived at the MKM Stadium in December of last year and did well to recover the mess that was left behind by Tim Walter, with a draw away to Portsmouth on the final day of the season enough to dodge the drop into League One. Under his management, Hull won nine and drew seven of their Championship games, a reasonable return for a team near the foot of the table.

The bulk of Selles’ previous experience came at Reading where he impressed despite often having his hands tied because of the Royals’ off-the-field issues. In his first season, Reading finished 16th in League One and he left the Berkshire club sitting fifth after 17 games last December. On top of that, Selles has managed in the Premier League having taken charge of Southampton for the final 16 matches of the 2022/23 season following the departure of Nathan Jones.

He may not have promotions on his CV like Edwards but the 41-year-old has tended to impress wherever he has worked, despite more often than not taking on tricky jobs.

John Mousinho

Now this might be a bit more of a dream appointment rather than one that is actually possible but John Mousinho’s name has been mentioned by more than a couple of Bristol City supporters in recent days.

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho played with Bristol City loanee Rob Atkinson at Oxford United(Image: Photo by Richard Martin-Roberts/Getty Images)

The Portsmouth boss’ work is there for anyone to see. In what is his first managerial post since hanging up his boots, the 39-year-old has managed to guide Pompey to the League One title in his first full season in charge at Fratton Park before helping them survive in the second tier by a comfortable five points last season.

Mousinho has managed to achieve all of that without having loads of money to work with and while playing a reasonably attractive brand of football. Throw in the fact that he already knows how to get the best out of Rob Atkinson having worked with the City defender on loan this term and he feels like the perfect fit for the Ashton Gate hot seat.

However, he is under contract with Pompey and while the exact details of his agreement are not publically known, he did put pen to paper on a new deal as recently as September of last year. It is safe to assume that the Robins would have to pay a reasonable compensation fee to bring him to the West Country.

They were willing to do that when they appointed Liam Manning 18 months ago but it isn’t clear if they would be open to doing the same this time around.

Dave Challinor

A man who knows a thing or two about getting promoted, Dave Challinor is a name that we have seen mentioned by a fair few supporters on social media over the last few days. While it would be a bit of a gamble to give the current Stockport County boss his first role at Championship level, his record in the lower leagues is seriously impressive.

Challinor won the National League North with Flyde in 2016/17 before taking Hartlepool from the National League into League Two in 2021/22 via the play-offs, where his side beat Gary Johnson’s Torquay team in the final at Ashton Gate. After just 15 matches in charge of the Pools the next season, he dropped back into the National League with Stockport County where he again won promotion to League Two, this time as champions.

In Stockport’s first season back in the football league, they finished fourth in League Two but missed out on promotion via the play-offs when they were beaten by Carlisle United in the Wembley final. That didn’t stop Challinor and his side as they won the league the next season to finally make the step up to the third tier where they finished third last season.

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As we mentioned, it would be a risk to appoint a head coach who has never managed above the third tier and it is unclear whether or not the 49-year-old would be interested in making the switch to BS3. However, his record as a serial promotion winner cannot be sniffed at.

While it would be a slightly left-field appointment, it would certainly catch the eye.

Foreign appointment

Now, this would be a surprise given Bristol City’s record when it comes to appointing head coaches and managers. The Robins haven’t been coached by a foreign manager since Benny Lennarrtsson’s spell in charge at Ashton Gate in the late 1990s and the assumption of most supporters is that the Reds will again look within the English pyramid for their next boss.

However, as we mentioned in the introduction, you can never say never in football. Appointing managers from abroad has become fashionable at the highest level of the game and it is a trend that has begun to filter down through the English pyramid. Is it that outlandish to suggest City could follow suit?

It would be a gamble. Norwich City took that exact risk when they appointed Johannes Hoff Thorup a year ago and 12 months later, the Dane has been sacked and the Canaries have poached Liam Manning from the Robins. Other clubs have had success however when looking abroad so it is not without its benefits.

Perhaps if an outstanding candidate emerged, it would be a gamble worth taking for the decision-makers at Ashton Gate. You would imagine they would have to be the perfect fit for the vacancy to get the job but stranger things have happened in this division.

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