Following last week’s appointment of Colin Kazim-Richards as Crawley Town manager, the EFL currently has 14 managers under the age of 40. On top of this, five managers have been sacked who are aged 40 or under. This is an overview of all 19 of these managers, in an effort to suggest whether this wave of young bosses have been successful.
There are currently seven managers under 40 in the Championship, with a further four already given their marching orders.
Notable successes come in the form of Kieran McKenna and Tonda Eckert.
McKenna’s triumphs with Ipswich go without saying – back to back promotions with a possibility of an automatic Premier League return is quite an achievement for a rookie manager.
Meanwhile, Eckert came in as Southampton’s caretaker and quickly steadied the ship, turning a potential relegation battle into a play-off charge. The 33-year-old German deserves high praise in his first senior role.
Despite these triumphs, there are several cases of the young guns falling short of expectation.
Two notable examples come from West Brom. Ryan Mason was brought in from Spurs at the beginning of the season – what looked to be a promising appointment soon turned sour, with the 34-year-old losing 11 successive games away from home.
He was dismissed in January, before fellow 34-year-old Eric Ramsay was signed from Minnesota United to steady the ship. This move quickly turned out to be a failure, with the former Man United coach losing his job after failing to win any of his first nine games at the helm.
Elsewhere, Alan Sheehan was sacked by Swansea in November. Although he had a hugely positive impact as caretaker manager last season, the club were 18th in the table at the time of his sacking.
Will Still was the man replaced by Tonda Eckert, and he came to Southampton with a glistening resumé, having narrowly missed out on European spots with both Reims and Lens in Ligue 1. However, his time in the Championship was short and anything but sweet, winning just four of his 16 games in charge and leaving the Saints 21st in the table.
There is another manager still in his post who, despite the backing of his club, could be set for relegation. John Mousinho went straight from playing to managing in 2023, guiding Portsmouth to promotion in his first full season, before ensuring survival in their maiden Championship campaign. However, with Pompey just a point clear of the drop zone, it’s fair to say Mousinho has had a difficult season.
There are four names left who are more difficult to assess, namely Kim Hellberg, Vitor Matos, Edward Still and James Morrison.
Hellberg took over at Middlesbrough with the club 2nd in the table, and had a positive impact to begin with, guiding the club to the top of the Championship table. However, two wins from eight games since reaching the summit have put Boro in danger of dropping out of automatic promotion, and it remains to be seen whether or not the Swede can guide them to the Premier League.
Vitor Matos was brought in at Swansea having spent five years as a coach at Liverpool. The 37-year-old has had a relatively good year with his new team, elevating them four places up the table and alleviating any danger of relegation.
Edward Still and James Morrison were only appointed in February, with the latter being an interim. Still has picked up 12 points from eight games at Watford, who sit 9th in the league table.
Meanwhile, Morrison has won his last two games with West Brom, who now sit four points clear from relegation. A 3-0 victory against Hull has given some much-needed positivity to a team threatened with relegation.
There are currently three managers under 40 in League One.
However, another one was sacked just eleven games into the season. Mike Dodds failed to finish Wycombe’s promotion charge last season, and departed with the club 19th in the table.
Elsewhere, Tom Cleverley turned a dismal start to the season at Plymouth into a potential play-off push. Despite 13 points from their first 14 games, Argyle sit two points outside of the top 6, coming into the end of the season in strong form.
Meanwhile, the other two managers, Conor Hourihane and Jack Wilshere sit mid-table in League One. Wilshere’s Luton have struggled to recover from back-to-back relegations, but the 36-year-old seems to have the backing of the club to bring them back to the Championship.
Hourihane’s Barnsley are currently eleven points from the play-offs, however they do have games in hand over their rivals. Although promotion looks unlikely at this point, a mid-table finish shouldn’t sound too many alarm bells at Oakwell.
At the bottom of the EFL, four managers under 40 are currently in charge, and it has to be said that none of them have done particularly badly.
Martin Paterson has managed to build on Notts County’s play-off finish last season, with the club currently in the automatic promotion spots. The 38-year-old even had a six-game winning streak during the winter.
Elsewhere, Christian Fuchs was seen as a left-field appointment at Newport County, who were bottom of the league at the time of his arrival. However, the former Premier League winner has steadied the ship Rodney Parade, with the club currently two points clear of the relegation zone.
Matt Lawlor was brought in as Fleetwood’s caretaker manager in January, and has since impressed the board enough to award him the role on a permanent basis. The 37-year-old has lifted the team two places in the table to 13th.
That leaves us with Colin Kazim-Richards, who was appointed as Crawley Town’s manager last week. Like Newport, the team are two points clear of the drop, and it remains to be seen whether the former Arsenal youth coach can keep the club in the EFL in his first senior role.
