Former Swindon manager John McGreal and FC Halifax Town’s Pete Wild linked with Rochdale

John McGreal and Pete Wild have become the latest names to feature in the next Rochdale manager odds following the departure of Brian Barry-Murphy late last month.

Former Dale boss Keith Hill emerged as the early frontrunner for the League Two job, ahead of the caretaker duo of Lee Riley and Jim McNulty. 

Yet the trio have each now drifted slightly in the betting after McGreal, formerly a 16/1 shot, had his odds cut to the joint-9/4 favourite, alongside FC Halifax Town’s Pete Wild.

A couple of weeks ago McGreal was busy preparing for his debut season in charge of Swindon Town, who like Dale suffered relegation down to the fourth-tier last season.

McGreal signed a two-year contract in May, but performed a u-turn a month later because he felt his position had become untenable due to legal proceedings involving the club’s ownership.

The 49-year-old didn’t even manage a single game at Swindon, however he does have four years worth of League Two experience on his CV from his time spent managing Colchester.

McGreal’s side finished 8th, 13th, 8th again, then 6th in his final season when they lost to Exeter City in the play-offs.

The U’s also beat the likes of Swindon, Crystal Palace, and Tottenham en-route to the League Cup quarter-finals.

Colchester then endured an extremely difficult 2020/21 season without McGreal, finishing 20th with three different managers over the course of the campaign: Steve Ball, Wayne Brown, and Hayden Mullins.

McGreal’s experience, knowledge of the division, and his availability potentially make him an attractive option for managerless Dale, whose players returned to pre-season training last week.

Also placed at the top of the betting, you can find Pete Wild, who recently signed a new two-year contract at Halifax Town.

Wild, Halifax boss since 2019, finished 6th in his first season as his troops qualified for the National League play-off quarter-finals, then he missed out on another top-seven showing last term after a late dip in form.

"I think it's just building the foundations of a solid structure of a football club that's now gearing itself for the next level, and preparing to work on the next level,” Wild told the Halifax Courier a few months ago.

“I think those foundations are in place now, which is great."

Wild previously managed Oldham either side of Paul Scholes’ infamous 31-day stint during the 2018/19 season. The first spell was as caretaker, during which he won four of his eight games, which included a stunning FA Cup upset over Premier League club Fulham.

After Scholes came-and-went, Wild then oversaw the first team for the remaining nine games of the season; picking up four wins and two draws.

Elsewhere, Hill remains in the top cluster of names for the job at 8/1, ahead of academy boss Tony Ellis (12/1), former player Lee Thorpe (12/1), and caretaker Jim McNulty (14/1).

Scroll down for the full list of odds…