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…

Joey Barton is now a free agent after leaving his role as Fleetwood Town boss. 

The controversial coach spent two and a half years with the League One club and took charge of them in 128 matches.

With Sheffield Wednesday on the lookout for a new manager, rumours have begun to circle but for the time being there doesn't seem to be a concrete link to 38-year-old.

But should they consider him? And is he the right man for the Owls job?

We pressed our FLW writers on just that...

Alfie Burns

Barton’s job at Fleetwood was actually quite impressive. If you dive into the fans’ reaction to his departure, you can see the success he’s had.

However, ready for the Championship and the fight that Sheffield Wednesday find themselves in? I’m not so sure.

If the Owls were resigned to losing their Championship status, I could maybe see the sense in getting Barton in to prepare them for life in League One.

That’s not me saying that Barton isn’t going to be good enough to manage in the Championship, I just don’t think that the project at Wednesday is right for him at this moment in time.

They need an experienced head.

Can you name each of these 17 ex-Sheffield Wednesday players just by looking at these 3 clues?

 

Jacob Potter

He's not the right manager for the job.

Barton didn't win promotion with Fleetwood Town, which would have been hugely frustrating, as I felt they had a good enough squad to be promoted into the Championship.

Therefore, I'm not convinced that he'd be the right manager to take Sheffield Wednesday forward in the Championship, especially when they're in the middle of a relegation scrap.

The Owls need to appoint a manager that has experience of managing in the Championship, and Barton doesn't have that at this moment in time.

There are much safer and more experienced options out there for Sheffield Wednesday, with someone like Paul Cook being just one of the managers available that they could target in the near future.

Toby Wilding

I think this could be a risky appointment for Wednesday to make.

Barton did well at Fleetwood, and it could be argued that he could galvanise Wednesday in the same way that he did the League One side.

However, he is still relatively inexperienced as a manager, meaning the step up to the Championship would likely be a challenge for him, particularly with a club that are the size of Wednesday, and carry the sort of expectations that they do.

That is further enhanced by the difficult situation that Wednesday find themselves in at the minute, and you wonder whether at this moment in time, they could be better off going for an established and experienced head to get them through this season without suffering relegation, before longer term next season without the points deductions and other issues hanging over their heads, when Barton could be an intriguing candidate.