Ex-Birmingham City & Leeds United man among favourites for Charlton Athletic manager job

An early favourites list has emerged for the vacant Charlton Athletic job after Ben Garner was relieved of his duties on Tuesday, and it includes an ex-Birmingham City and Leeds United man. Garner, who only joined the Addicks from Swindon Town in June, leaves Charlton down in 17th position in League One after 20 matches played this season.

A defeat to Cheltenham Town on Friday evening sealed Garner’s fate after a rather dismal run of form. Athletic are without a win in five successive League One games - with their last victory coming on October 22 away at Shrewsbury Town. No team in the entire division has done worse in the last five outings.

With six games to come in all competitions before the end of December, Charlton will be looking to bring in a replacement quickly. Former Blues player and manager Lee Bowyer is one of those who could be considered, and he has already been added to a list of potential Garner replacements by the bookies.

Bowyer, who made 81 appearances for Birmingham as a player and managed 59 matches in the dugout before leaving in July of this year, is of course already a Charlton favourite from his time at the Valley. Bowyer spent just under three years with the Addicks ahead of joining Blues in March 2021.

He is also a legend at Leeds having spent seven years at Elland Road between 1996 and 2003. After signing for a then-record fee for British teenager (£2.8 million), Bowyer made 203 Premier League appearances for the Lilywhites, scoring 38 goals.

The 45-year-old, who was capped once at senior level for England in 2002, maintained an impressive 40.8% win rate as Charlton manager and helped the club to promotion to the Championship in 2019. The Addicks finished third in League One in that campaign and beat Sunderland in the playoff final.

BetVictor currently lists Bowyer as the equal-fifth favourite for the Charlton job, with 12/1 odds. There are no concrete reports as of yet for any other contenders, however, so 12/1 could still change - either for the better or worse.

Charlton Athletic next permanent manager odds

Here are the latest contenders’ odds to replace Garner at Charlton, as per BetVictor. Correct as of 1pm on Tuesday, December 6.

• Dean Holden - 4/5
• Marc Bircham 3/1
• Leam Richardson - 4/1
• Anthony Hayes - 7/1
• Lee Bowyer - 12/1
• Kenny Jackett - 12/1
• Steve Cotterill - 14/1
• David Artell - 20/1
• Darren Ferguson - 20/1
• Steve Morison - 20/1
• Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink - 25/1
• Duncan Ferguson - 25/1