Blackburn Rovers: "Fantastic" 47-year-old coach favoured over Karanka & Carvalhal in manager hunt | OneFootball

FLW's Blackburn pundit gives his take on those in contention for the job.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Blackburn Rovers were left stunned when John Eustace expressed his desire to pursue the Derby County job amid his current side sitting in sixth place in the Championship.

This deal is now set to be confirmed and Rovers will be on the hunt for a new head coach to keep up their push for the play-offs.

According to Alan Nixon, the Venky's have drawn up a lengthy shortlist of coaches, with several well-known names included.

Gary O'Neil is among those under consideration, but they have also set their sights on foreign managers, with Raphael Wicky, Aitor Karanka and Carlos Carvalhal all being linked to the role.

The latter two will be familiar names to Championship fans, with Karanka best known for his time at Middlesbrough between 2013 and 2017. Meanwhile, Carvalhal managed Sheffield Wednesday from 2015 to 2017, guiding them to a play-off spot in his second season at the helm.

Wicky is a lesser-known quantity, but West Bromwich Albion were close to appointing him, prior to their decision to reunite with Tony Mowbray after the Swiss coach was unable to bring all of his coaching staff to The Hawthorns with him.

Raphael Wicky highlighted as top choice for Blackburn Rovers managerial vacancy

To get an Ewood Park point of view on the latest links, Football League World spoke to their resident Rovers pundit, Simon Middlehurst, who revealed that Wicky would be his ideal candidate.

"According to reports, Blackburn are looking at Gary O'Neil domestically, but across the water, they are looking at those three (Carvalhal, Karanka and Wicky)," said Middlehurst.

"I think Raphael Wicky would be a fantastic shout. He has got experience of taking teams forward and is definitely someone who has got those credentials to back it up.

"I can't see Carvalhal coming as I believe he is at Braga, but Raphael Wicky out of the three would be really good."

Raphael Wicky's path in management has certainly been a unique one

Prior to beginning his managerial career, Wicky was a relatively successful footballer, playing for teams such as Werder Bremen, Atlético Madrid and Hamburger SV across a 15-year career. Additionally, he featured 75 times for his native country of Switzerland, representing them in the European Championships in 1996 and 2004.

Since retiring, he has worked his way up through the youth ranks at Basel before becoming their full-time head coach in 2017.

Although his tenure lasted just one season, he achieved a remarkable feat by leading his side to a stunning 2-1 victory over Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

However, it is at BSC Young Boys where he has made his name with the head coach achieving the domestic double by winning the Swiss Super League and Swiss Cup in 2022-23.

Sacked the following season, the former Atlético Madrid player is now available and could prove a real coup for Blackburn.