Sheffield Wednesday legend Carlton Palmer has suggested to Football Fancast that he has heard that Neil Thompson is set to be handed the club's managerial role for the rest of the season after taking caretaker charge following the sacking of Tony Pulis.
The Championship side are once again looking for a new manager to take the club forward after dispensing of the Welshman after the former Stoke City boss had spent just 45 days at the helm.
A shock departure, the dismissal of Pulis means the club have gone through four managers in the space of just three years, underlining their alarming decline in recent years both on and off the pitch.
Thompson has since taking over temporary charge of the Owls and has overseen a four match unbeaten run, which has now led to Palmer stating the following about the 57-year-old potentially being handed the job on a more long-term basis:
“The shout, from what I’m hearing, is they’re going to give it to Thompson until the end of the season, which would be an easy fit for them because he’s going to do what he’s told.
“He knows the players, he knows about the players and they will run through a brick wall for him, and [they will] give him until the end of the season to just keep them in the division.
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“You know, that’s the easiest scenario for the chairman.
“But if they kick on, and no disregard to Thompson, but he’s not the man who’s going to get them promoted to the Premier League.”
The former Ipswich Town player's only previous managerial experience came between 1999 and 2004 as he took in spells at York City, Scarborough and Boston United.
The Verdict
This would be the safest option for Wednesday to take, but the real question is whether it's the right one to go for or not.
It's true that Thompson knows the players and the club well but surely Dejphon Chansiri has to be thinking more about the long-term future when making his next appointment in order to avoid another early sacking.
I for one have always felt that Paul Cook would be the man to take Wednesday forward but as of yet nothing has come to fruition with regards to appointing the former Wigan Athletic and Portsmouth man.
If Thompson is appointed, it would surely have to be to paper over the cracks rather than looking towards the future as I feel they need an experienced head at Football League level to steady the ship after the sackings of Garry Monk and Pulis.