Next Cheltenham Manager Odds: Four names in the frame to replace Wade Elliott

Cheltenham are languishing 24th in League One with no goals to their name, and just a solitary point, as a relegation battle looms.

EFL pundit Gab Sutton dissected boss Wade Elliott’s part in the poor start earlier this week, now he looks at four possible candidates to take charge at Whaddon Road following Wade's dismissal.

1. Graham Coughlan

Currently Newport boss, Graham Coughlan is a surprise name at the top of the betting list, seeing as Cheltenham have never poached a manager who had held the same position at a fellow EFL club directly from them.

As such, it’s unclear whether the Irishman’s links with the job have substance, but the 48-year-old could be considered a survival specialist.

Coughlan inherited a Bristol Rovers side struggling in 21st in League One in December 2018, steering them to 15th that season before leaving for Mansfield 12 months later with the side flying high in 4th.

After a disappointing stint with the Stags, where his man-management style was believed to be too strict, Coughlan stabilized matters again for Newport last season.

County had lost nine of their first 14 league games when the former centre-back took charge, but after he re-organised the side, they subsequently lost just eight in 32, and have begun this campaign in the top half.

The 48-year-old builds solid, aggressive teams, sometimes capable of a strong press like his current Newport side, who annihilated Doncaster in a 4-0 win last month.

At their best, they have a committed, driven mentality and excel on the intangibles, which is ideal for a team looking to beat the drop after a tough start.

As an in-possession coach, however, Coughlan is as limited as his predecessor, and is unlikely to do much to solve the absence of a link between midfield and attack.

2. Martin Devaney

Martin Devaney shares two advantages with Steve Cotterill, a candidate who reportedly turned the job down this week, in that he’s a club legend who would galvanize the fanbase, and is a 3-5-2 disciple.

The crucial difference, however, is that Devaney is in the fledgling period of his journey in management, rather than the twilight.

On the one hand, the 43-year-old is a little more in touch with what motivates the modern player, and might be a better fit for what is broadly a young Robins squad, having coached youth at Barnsley for the last eight years, before moving into the first-team staff this season.

Devaney has also had two games of management under his belt in the Championship, taking the Tykes at the end of their 2021/22 relegation campaign.

The former forward will back himself to get the best out of Ben Williams, with whom he worked at Barnsley, with the energetic left wing-back keen to rediscover the form he enjoyed in the second half of 2021/22 after signing in January that season. 

Plus, Devaney is likely to already have knowledge of the likes of Oli Hammond, Dan Adshead, and Jovan Malcolm from the youth circuit.

3. Darrell Clarke

The word on the training ground seems to be that Darrell Clarke is a candidate Cheltenham have genuine interest in.

The 45-year-old has succeeded everywhere he’s been other than Walsall, and even they have not been able to match the top half finish Clarke delivered in 2019/20, his only full season in charge.

The Mansfield-born boss won two promotions with Salisbury City, two with Bristol Rovers – he delivered a ninth-placed debut League One finish with the Gas in 2016/17, too - and one with Port Vale.

Instinctive, intuitive and straight-talking, Clarke is a flexible tactician with the ability to spot problems in games very quickly, and act decisively, which is why his sides have the capacity Cheltenham have missed – to take points from losing positions.

Although Clarke deployed a back-four at the Mem, his go-to formation at Vale was 3-5-2, which is another tick in the Robins’ box.

On the other hand, Clarke has suffered unimaginable personal grief recently, and - without presuming what somebody else needs because everybody is different and copes with things in different ways - six months out of the game would seem a relatively short timeframe in the circumstances.

Plus, the qualities that made the 45-year-old such a loved figure at his previous clubs are also the ones that can see him strain relations with the boards he works with, because he’s not somebody who will toe the party line, as we saw when he contradicted Carol Shanahan’s assertion that it had been a positive January window.

Most boards would like a manager who is modestly diplomatic in the media, and puts the club’s perspective forward rather than their own in the public domain where they don’t coincide with one another – that might be perceived to be true of Cheltenham’s hierarchy more than most.

Clarke would have the potential to light a fire in the fanbase and the dressing room, but also cause one in the boardroom.

4. David Artell

In contrast with Clarke, one of the big advantages of David Artell would be that for six years, he carried a lot of weight on his shoulders at Crewe Alexandra, had his differences with the board behind the scenes, but always remained a dignified presence when representing the club in the media.

And, of the five candidates here, the 42-year-old is the likeliest to establish a clear playing identity at Cheltenham, something they’ve struggled for since Duff departed, and address the disconnect from midfield to attack.

Under the Rotherham-born boss, the Robins will be looking after the ball better, playing more attractive football, and creating more chances, whilst recognising the importance of remaining responsible at the back.

Artell specializes in player development, having developed eight-figures worth of talent on League Two wages at Gresty Road, and won promotion with a regular starting XI of seven academy graduates.

Cheltenham are in a situation whereby they need first-time loanees like Oli Hammond, Cameron Peupion, and Luciano D’Auria-Henry to excel, so appointing one of the EFL’s top nurturers of talent would make a lot of sense.

While Artell dabbled with a wing-back system in his final season at Crewe, however, he had his most successful campaigns with 4-3-3, so either he would have to use a formation that isn’t his preferred one, or the players would have to adjust to a back-four.

If there’s a willingness from both parties to work around this, however, Town will get a quality of coach they’d normally have to pay compensation for, or struggle to attract.