Ex-Arsenal and Man Utd stars to go head-to-head for League One manager job
Jack Wilshere and Tom Cleverley are among the candidates to be interviewed for the vacant Plymouth Argyle job. Both the former Arsenal midfielder and ex-Manchester United ace are out of work having managed in the Championship last season
Plymouth are in need of a new boss having seen Miron Muslic depart for Schalke after less than a year in the job. Muslic oversaw the side's relegation after replacing Wayne Rooney at Home Park.
Rooney was sacked by the club in December after lasting 221 days of his three-year contract. The ex-Derby and Birmingham City boss managed just four wins and was relieved of his duties after a nine-game winless run put the team four points from safety.
Muslic was expected to continue at Plymouth having given chairman Simon Hallett assurances he would lead the side's campaign to earn promotion from the Championship. The club had already moved to put personnel and structures in place that Muslic insisted upon.
But Argyle have been forced into the managerial market and could go for a high-profile name once again with Wilshere and Cleverley in the frame. The former took charge of Norwich's final two games of the season as interim-boss after the Canaries parted ways with Johannes Hoff Thorup.
Wilshere arrived at Carrow Road in October 2024 as a member of coaching staff. The ex-England international was previously in charge of Arsenal under-18s and parted ways with Norwich via mutual agreement after the team decided they wouldn't consider him for the permanent job.
Cleverley meanwhile saw his playing career end with Watford where he moved into coaching. The 35-year-old was working with the Hornets academy before being named as interim head coach when Valerien Ismael was dismissed.
Cleverly impressed enough to be handed the role on a permanent basis but lasted little over 12 months before being sacked last month. The United academy product remained proud of his efforts.
"After the sadness wears off, I will forever have a feeling of gratitude and happiness towards the club and the place and people of Watford," he said. "To have built a connection with the players and supporters over the last 14 months has been special and the achievement I'm most proud about.
"To see the development of our key players, young players and academy players, has been an incredibly rewarding part of my job and their progress in the game will always be something I look out for. We have used 11 players aged 21 and under this year and both they and the club will benefit hugely for this experience.
"To maintain league position and points after selling key players last summer is something we should be proud of, as well as reflecting on why we couldn't sustain our play-off challenge will be something we should all review."
Wilshere and Cleverley will also see competition from Des Buckingham. The 40-year-old was surprisingly sacked by Oxford United in December.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
2 minutes ago
- The Independent
Ruben Amorim pushing for Man United to sign Carlos Baleba this summer
Manchester United are actively trying to do a deal for Carlos Baleba in this window, as Ruben Amorim pushes for a midfielder to accelerate his rebuild. Brighton are understood to want around £120m for the 21-year-old, with owner Tony Bloom generally unmoving as regards such prices. The United hierarchy are currently figuring out how to construct a payment package, with one consideration to offer an initial £80m with the rest made up of add-ons. There would be a will to send a player such as Jadon Sancho the other way, but it is not seen as likely that Brighton go for that. While United anticipate outgoings in the remainder of the window, their available budget under PSR has been aided so far by the construction of their three big deals so far - Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbuemo, Benjamin Sesko - and how much has been paid in first instalments. Amorim is insistent on a midfielder to fit the team together, and Baleba has been identified as best fitting the profile they want. A further attraction is that, while he offers exactly what United need right now, he also has huge potential. If the club cannot get him this summer, they will almost certainly go again next year. The same could be true for United's preferred alternative, Adam Wharton. The club may try for the Crystal Palace defensive midfielder if they cannot get Baleba, but also hold a long-term interest to pair the two together. It is nevertheless anticipated that Wharton could cost even more this summer, with Palace chairman Steve Parish unwilling to do business given that they could yet lose Marc Guehi and Eberechi Eze. United have also looked at Sporting's Morten Hjumland, although there are questions over whether he quite has the physicality for the position they want. Atalanta 's Ederson is also admired, albeit in a slightly different role. Baleba himself is highly keen on the move.
Daily Mail
2 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Liverpool closing in on £26m deal to sign 18-year-old Parma defender Giovanni Leoni as Arne Slot seeks defensive reinforcements
Liverpool are finalising agreement on a £26million deal for Parma defender Giovanni Leoni. The Reds will pay further add-ons for the 18-year old on performances plus a sell-on percentage. Daily Mail Sport reported on Tuesday that the Premier League champions had stepped up their interest in the defender. The deal unconnected to Liverpool's pursuit of Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi for a similar fee. The Italy U19 has only played 17 times in Serie A but the Reds transfer department are understood to like Leoni a lot and are ready to pursue a move to sign him. Liverpool's interest in Leoni, a 6ft 5in central defender, comes after the Reds previously pursued Lenny Yoro, Jorrel Hato and Dean Huijsen as they seek a long-term successor to captain Virgil van Dijk.
BBC News
3 minutes ago
- BBC News
Swansea extend contracts of Key and Tymon
Swansea City have triggered extension clauses in the contracts of Josh Tymon and Josh Key, meaning the two full-backs are tied to the Championship club until Tymon, 26, was one of Swansea's most influential players last season while Key, 25, has been a consistent performer on the opposite side of the Championship club's back and Key both joined Swansea in the summer of 2023 on three-year deals, meaning they had been due to become free agents at the end of the 2025-26 the club have taken up their option to extend both deals by 12 months - and director of football Richard Montague says they want Tymon and Key to sign longer-term contracts. "They both have an option year in their contracts and we have exercised the option, so they both have two years left with us at the very least," Montague told a fans' forum at the Stadium on Wednesday."We will be having conversations with those guys and their representatives in the coming months because obviously we don't want to be in that situation where those contracts are winding down." Tymon has made 91 appearances, scoring twice, since joining Swansea from Stoke for about £ has scored three times in 79 appearances having arrived from Exeter City, with Swansea paying an undisclosed compensation fee for his services which was decided by and Key are currently the first-choice options on either side of Swansea's defence, with academy product Sam Parker providing back-up on the right and no obvious alternative on the left with less than three weeks remaining in the summer transfer was also asked about the future of homegrown winger Cameron Congreve, who is back at Swansea this season having impressed on loan at League Two Bromley last 21, sees his contract expire at the end of this campaign."We have had conversations with Cam's agent and Cam himself about his future," Montague said."That's an active source of discussion at the moment."
