Two Championship managers are on the move as Blackburn Rovers and Watford look to change direction ahead of next season.

It was announced today [Wednesday, May 11] that Rovers boss Tony Mowbray has parted company with the Lancashire-side following the culmination of the 2021/22 campaign.

The Ewood Park outfit were challenging for the top six for the majority of the season but dropped off in the final months with three defeats in five to finish seventh.

Former Celtic and Middlesbrough manager Mowbray had been in charge at Blackburn for five years, leading the club out of the third tier at the first attempt and consolidated the one-time Premiership champions in the Championship.

 

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Current Wycombe Wanderers manager Gareth Ainsworth and former Norwich City boss Daniel Farke are the two front runners for the job.

Speaking on a club website, Mowbray said: “Firstly, I’d like to thank the Owners and the Board for giving me the opportunity to manage a football club that is steeped in such great history and tradition. It’s been a real privilege to have been the manager of Blackburn Rovers.

“I’d also like to say thank you to all the supporters and all the amazing staff at the club, particularly those who I’ve worked with on a daily basis at the Senior Training Centre, but also the extended staff who work at Ewood Park and the Academy.

“It’s been a wonderful experience to bring my values to a football club over a five-year period and to create an environment where people enjoy coming into work every day and where players feel like they can improve every day.

“I’ve really enjoyed it, it’s been very rewarding, and I thank everybody for coming along on the journey with me, but I feel as though the time is right to move on and let somebody else have a go. I wish this amazing group of young players and the club in general every success going forward.”

Blackburn are not the only 2022/23 Championship side to change manager, with relegated Premier League side Watford controversially snatching Forest Green Rovers manager Rob Edwards.

 

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Winning League Two to gain promotion to the third tier for the first time in the club’s history, the former Wolves defender Edwards was reportedly illegally approached by the Hornets, with Rovers owner Dale Vince accusing the club on “deceit” and claiming that the Vicarage Road side “advised Rob not to tell us” [Forest Green].

Roy Hodgson has been in Hertfordshire since January but was unable to stave off immediate relegation back to the second tier and is to leave the club at the end of the season.

Edwards is to take over at the culmination of the current season.