Steve Evans left Stevenage with just two weeks left of the season to return to Rotherham, leaving Boro after their League One play-off hopes were ended with Alex Revell appointed as interim manager.
The former striker oversaw a win and a draw in his time in charge, finishing the league campaign with a 2-1 win over Cheltenham to secure a ninth-placed finish for the club and putting himself in pole position for the job on a permanent basis.
Evans had done a fantastic job at the Lamex Stadium in his two years in charge but leaves a considerable hole in the club that they will be keen to fill quickly, with a number of candidates linked to the role after the season ended.
Revell remains the obvious candidate to take it on on a full time basis, but others such as Gareth Ainsworth have also been linked with the role.
Next Stevenage Manager Odds
Having stood in for the last two games of the season and stepping up from the number two role to do so, Revell is the current favourite for the job and leading the market but there are others with relatively short odds that will certainly be in the thinking.
Ainsworth, who lost his job at QPR earlier in the season, it among those in the running while Luke Garrard is also in there after his nine-year spell at Boreham Wood came to an end.
- Alex Revell - 1/2
- Luke Garrard - 4/1
- Gareth Ainsworth - 4/1
- Mark Bonner - 10/1
- Scott Lindsey - 10/1
- Richie Wellens - 12/1
Odds correct at time of writing with BetVictor (April 29, 2.30pm)
Leading Candidates to be the Next Stevenage Manager
Let’s take a look at some of the names towards the head of the betting market.
Alex Revell
The leading candidate for the role, Revell has impressed in the very little time in charge he has had at Stevenage this time round, with a point picked up on the road against fifth-placed finishers Oxford before a 2-1 win over Cheltenham on the final day of the season.
If appointed, it would be Revell’s first official managerial role since he was sacked by the club after an 18-month spell in the COVID-affected period between 2020 and 2021. In total he was in charge for 77 matches, winning just 20 and ending with a win percentage of 26%. He returned to the club as a youth coach shortly after his sacking, before being promoted to a role with the first team under Evans and then assuming full control earlier in April.
Gareth Ainsworth
Ainsworth made the brave decision of leaving a safe and successful role he held at Wycombe for 11 years when he moved onto QPR, and it’s fair to say that move didn’t pay off as he left the club in October of last year with his side 23rd in the table and with just five wins to his name.
He remains a popular man in the game, recognised for his more eccentric approach but one that paid dividends while at Wycombe, taking the club into the Championship and then again into the League One play-offs last season. Given his experience with promotions and knowledge of League One, Ainsworth would fit the bill for any ambitious League One club looking for a long-term plan and promotion but they are likely to face competition for his services.
Mark Bonner
Bonner did a good job in his three-year spell at Cambridge, having initially taken on the role at the age of 35 in 2020. He left with the club 18th in the table - they finished 18th even after his dismissal - and was well regarded at the club, with owner Paul Barry describing him as “one of the most important people in the history of Cambridge United”.
Bonner was a long-time employee at the club, climbing up the ranks having first joined the staff as a teenager before progressing to the role assistant head coach under successive managers before getting the main role and leading them to promotion from League Two.
It will be very interesting to see where Bonner ends up next. Is he the real deal or was it just the perfect fit for a guy who knew a club inside out and could hit the ground running? He could be another who would be a good fit for a club with more of a long-term strategy rather than focusing on immediate promotion.
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