Mogga emerges as new favourite for vacant role at Boro's Championship rivals (2024)

Tony Mowbray has emerged as the new favourite to take the vacant manager's role at Cardiff City, having recently stated his intention to get back into management this season.

The Boro legend was most recently in charge at Birmingham City but was forced to step back and take an absence of leave to receive treatment for an unknown medical condition. Though Mowbray has recently revealed his intention to return to the dugout, he admitted he needed a little more time to rebuild his strength.

Speaking in September during a visit to St Andrew's, Mogga said: "I’m great, I don’t think that’s overplaying it. I feel almost back to normal. I’ve still got one procedure, I’ve got a stoma bag attached to my stomach that needs reversing, which I’m getting done this week. Energy levels I feel are back to normal. I can tell because I’m sometimes a self-talker and I’ll say, ‘Shut up, you talk too much!’. I feel good.

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"I feel as if I’m almost ready, I want to go back to work sometime soon, in the next few months. I appreciate I’m still a bit weak and to be a football manager you need energy, you need to be at it all the time. I need to give myself a few months, probably playing golf and walking 18 holes. I’ve got three teenage boys who all play golf.

“I’m going to take my Florence Nightingale wife away, she’s been amazing over recent months for me, the work and the help and the travelling that she’s done. We’ll go on a nice holiday somewhere and just spend some time together. And after that, I hope to get back to work and do what makes me tick.”

It's not yet clear whether he would feel ready right now to take the Cardiff role, as the Bluebirds continue to look for a new boss after sacking Erol Bulut last month. Bookmakers have unexpectedly made him the new favourite for the vacant role in South Wales. He replaces former West Ham and Watford boss Slaven Bilic, who had been top of the list for the role for quite some time after our sister site Wales Online revealed that the Cardiff hierarchy like him. He is unlikely to be available until January, however.

Elsewhere, Lee Cattermole was made second-favourite to become the new manager at Hartlepool United after they sacked Darren Sarrl on Wednesday. Former Boro boss Lennie Lawrence has been placed in caretaker charge and is joint-second favourite with Cattermole.

Priced at 4/1 with BonusCodeBets, the pair are behind current favourite Matt Smith, the former Sutton United boss who is priced at 5/2. Cattermole started his coaching career at Boro after announcing his retirement from the game. The academy graduate returned to his routes in the Boro academy and took control of the under-18s.

He also briefly had a spell as a first-team coach as part of the four-man coaching team that assumed interim control in the five-game period between Chris Wilder's departure and Michael Carrick's appointment. In that period he was said to have really impressed and put himself forward as a potential future Boro boss - though despite betting odds at the time, it's understood he was never seriously considered at time as it was deemed too early in his coaching career for such a jump.

Having returned to the under-18s following Carrick's arrival for a short period, he left in February 2023 to 'pursue the next step in his coaching career'.

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