Next Colchester United Manager Odds

Ben Garner took charge of Colchester United in March this year with the U’s facing relegation. After a string of positive results in the final weeks, he managed to keep Colchester afloat in 2022/23 League Two.

However, a poor start to the 2023/24 League Two campaign – which has included four consecutive losses – has seen Garner sacked. The team is currently 23rd in the table with just 10 points after 13 games and risk getting relegated to the National League for the first time since the 1990s.

While the club officials are searching for the right replacement, the next Colchester United manager odds have gone up. In the meantime, Matthew Etherington has been appointed caretaker. 

Colchester United Next Manager Betting List

When it comes to the Colchester United next manager odds, the bookmakers see Matthew Etherington as the likeliest candidate to become the permanent manager. However, there are other interesting names in the running as well.

Matthew Etherington

Appointed as caretaker after the departure of Ben Garner, Matthew Etherington is in the running to become the next Colchester United manager. The former Premier League winger arrived at Colchester this summer to take charge of their U21 side and will have to combine that role with his first-team duties in the near future.

While he has plenty of experience as a player, Etherington is still new in the coaching game. His only previous spell as a head coach was with Crawley Town in League One in 2022/23. However, the Englishman was sacked after just three games in charge due to what seemed like a personal conflict with the club officials.

His CV also lists positions as U18 coach at Peterborough United and later assistant and caretaker roles at the senior side. Perhaps the coming weeks will show if Etherington has what it takes to be made permanent coach at a League Two club.

Neil Harris

Neil Harris, on the other hand, has been managing at various levels of the English Football League for almost 10 years now. After being dismissed by fellow League Two club Gillingham earlier this month, the 46-year-old is available for instant hire.

His spell at Gillingham was not the most successful, as he couldn’t avoid relegation from League One in 2021/22 and would finish only 17th in League Two in 2022/23. However, he had decent spells with Millwall – where he would win promotion back to the EFL Championship after initially getting relegated – and at Cardiff City, where he took the Bluebirds to Premier League promotion play-offs in his only full season.

An adaptive and experienced coach, Neil Harris is a solid candidate to turn things around at Colchester United. However, the U’s should keep in mind that the English gaffer also suffered two relegations in the course of his career.

Liam Bailey

Perhaps the least known coach on the list of next Colchester United manager odds is Liam Bailey. The 35-year-old is currently an assistant coach at the club’s U21 team, a position he has held since 2021. 

Bailey started his coaching journey at Colchester United’s academy all the way back in 2010, first working with younger age groups. Between 2016, Bailey was an assistant coach at the U18 side, and then their head manager between 2019 and 2021.

Judging by how Bailey has advanced through the ranks over the years, Bailey is clearly trusted at the Colchester Community Stadium. However, the 35-year-old has no experience in senior football and he also never played at the top level. Taking that into consideration, it may be too early for Baily to make the jump. At the very least, it would be a risky appointment by the relegation-facing U’s.

David Artell

If knowledge of the lower divisions is what Colchester United are after, then David Artell is the perfect candidate. The former Crewe Alexandra manager has been on the job market ever since departing the Railwaymen in April 2022.

To this day, Crewe Alexandra remains the only club Artell has coached, although he spent five years at Gresty Road and would have extensive responsibilities, from coaching the first team to being responsible for scouting. 

Arriving at Crewe Alexandra mid-season in 2016/2017, he managed to save the Railwaymen from relegation from League Two. Then followed two mid-table finishes before Crewe was promoted to League One during the Covid-19 season. 

Artell and Crewe Alexandra survived the first season in the third tier, achieving a respectable 12th-place finish. However, the 2021/22 was much poorer in terms of results. After Crewe’s relegation was confirmed four games before the end of the season, Artell was relieved of his duties. 

Steve Cotterill

Even more experienced than David Artell is Steve Cotterill, whose coaching career started all the way back in 1995. And since 1997, the Englishman has been coaching at various levels of the English football pyramid. 

Unfortunately, Cotterill never got to coach in the Premier League, with the EFL Championship remaining the highest level the 59-year-old worked at. Nevertheless, his most impressive achievements came at clubs below the second tier.

For one, Cotterill took charge of native Cheltenham Town in the sixth tier and would take them all the way to the third, professional tier in just three seasons. He would also go on to win promotions to the higher levels with the likes of Notts County and Bristol City later in his career. For his work with Bristol City in 2014/15, he was named League One Manager of the Year.

Most recently, Cotterill left Shrewsbury Town at the end of 2022/23 following a mid-table finish. The health complications due to Covid-19 have seen him miss long stretches of matches in recent years.