Current Wigan boss Paul Cook has jumped up in the bookies odds to become the next manager of Ireland, and currently lies second favourite to land the job behind Mick McCarthy and ahead of Stephen Kenny.
Cook previously managed in the League of Ireland with Sligo Rovers, winning them to two FAI Cups and a League Cup during his five year stint at the Showgrounds.
The Liverpool native took over at Wigan in May 2017, leading them to promotion to League 1 and overseeing a successful FA Cup run which saw the Latics beat the likes of West Ham and Manchester City before succumbing to Southampton in the quarter final of the competition.
Cook is currently as low as 4/1 to get the job with Skybet.
Wigan executive chairman Darren Royle recently told Wigan Today that the club are wary of losing Cook to a Premier League team, and if the bookies are anything to go by they might have to expand their remit of concern to entail international jobs as well:
There aren’t too many managers out there with a CV like Paul, it speaks for itself. Who knows, he might get offers from the Premier League...and that’s something the guys coming in have actually been worried about, because of his success. You never know in football, do you? But what we do know is he’s got a really good cv and we really want to support him.
Numerous reports today seem to have Mick McCarthy as the FAI's first choice to take over from Martin O'Neill, with Off The Ball and RTE reporting that McCarthy is currently in talks to return for his second stint as Ireland manager.
