50-year-old emerges as potential Pulis successor at Sheffield Wednesday | OneFootball

The race to become the new manager of Sheffield Wednesday has taken another turn, with Paco Jemez the latest name being eyed up to take the hot-seat at Hillsborough, according to The Sun (03.01.21, pg. 57).

The Owls are looking for their third permanent manager of the season following the sacking of Tony Pulis last week, just 45 days after being appointed.

Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri launched a stunning tirade aimed at Pulis this week in a battle that won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, but now the Thai man needs to focus on appointing the 62-year-old’s replacement.

Caretaker boss Neil Thompson couldn’t be doing any better with two wins in as many games against Middlesbrough and Derby, but he’s played down his chances of landing the role on a full-time basis.

As it stands, some familiar figures have been linked to the Wednesday dugout, with former Wigan boss Paul Cook being named as a potential target by Alan Biggs – the club have reportedly made contact with him over the job.

Former Barnsley boss Jose Morais and German coach Thorsten Fink are two other names that have done the rounds this week, and according to The Sun they are on a three-man shortlist to be the new manager.

The other name on that list is said to be Jemez, who was last in charge of Rayo Vallecano in his home nation of Spain.

The 50-year-old has tons of experience at the top level, holding managerial roles at Granada, Las Palmas and Mexican outfit Cruz Azul over the years, and as a player represented his nation 21 times between 1998 and 2001.

Like Morais and Fink, Jemez will be a name unfamiliar to most fans in S6 but it does seem like Chansiri is set to go back down the foreign route again when it comes to appointing a new man at the helm, something he hasn’t done since January 2018 when he brought Jos Luhukay to the blue and white side of Sheffield.

The Verdict

There has already been so many names linked to the Owls job that it’s hard to keep up with everyone in-line.

Wednesday are a massive club and a sleeping giant in the second tier of English football, and the first job that the new manager needs to do is guide them away from potential relegation to League One.

Thompson is already doing a good job of that but it was always unlikely that he was going to land the role on a permanent basis.

If Jemez ends up being the new boss, Wednesday fans need to get behind him even though they will have obvious doubts about him having only managed in Spain and Mexico in his career.