This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Middlesbrough boss Chris Wilder has been linked with a move to take over at Bournemouth.

The Northern Echo have reported that no official contact has been made by the Cherries, but the 55-year old has become the bookies' favourite to take over the team.

Here we ask our FLW writers their verdict on how big of an impact Wilder's potential exit would have on Middlesbrough’s season… 

Marcus Ally

Middlesbrough are a very attractive club in the Championship, with a competitive budget and a progressive structure off of the pitch, they would not be short of options to replace Wilder if he does depart.

The rumours could be unsettling for the former Sheffield United manager, particularly with Boro languishing towards the bottom end in the second tier, a move to the South Coast and a Premier League return may well be an attractive and distracting proposition for him. 

There are some players who do not appear to be hitting the standards they have set under other managers at the moment, and for that reason a Wilder exit could offer a boost in certain corners of the squad.

Charlie Gregory

Chris Wilder would be an excellent appointment for Bournemouth based off his record in the Championship and the Premier League but you would have to question if there are better managers for the job out there. 

Throw in the fact that he has only just splashed the cash and joined Middlesbrough, it's questionable if he should leave.

I don't think that Boro fans would be best pleased if he did up sticks and leave them right now. 

He came in with the promise of leading them towards promotion and splashed the cash to try and help them do so.

 

 

Having spent plenty trying to sort the team out, it would be bad on his part to leave them now. It hasn't worked so far for the boss with the Championship side but it would probably be worse to just depart.

For Bournemouth, there are probably managers out there that they could appoint with more Premier League acumen. 

Wilder is an excellent appointment in the EFL and has proven he can do the business with Sheffield United but only for two seasons. There will be other bosses out there with a lot more experience. Should the Cherries think about one of those instead?

Either way, a move might not benefit both parties exactly as they think. In that case, perhaps it would be best if Wilder turned down the Bournemouth move.

Declan Harte

While this season hasn’t gotten off to the best of starts, Wilder’s tenure has shown he could be the man to lead this club back to the Premier League.

For that reason, his possible departure would be a big blow to the Riverside club.

Boro would have no shortage of options if they do need to find a replacement but there are no guarantees that they could have the same impact that Wilder has had.

And despite being 22nd in the table, the gap to the top six is only five points at this stage so there is still a lot of potential for Boro to do well this season if they can begin to turn results around.

Wilder would be a good fit for Bournemouth but it is likely that Middlesbrough would play hard-ball in order to persuade Wilder to stay, which makes him a less attractive proposition for the Cherries compared to some more attainable targets.