Bristol Rovers' chances of appointing Ryan Lowe or Steven Schumacher become clearer | OneFootball

The League One side are on the lookout for Matt Taylor's replacement.

Ryan Rowe and Steven Schumacher are not reported to be viable options for Bristol Rovers in their hunt to replace Matt Taylor, according to Bristol Live journalist Dan Hargraves.

A 2-0 loss away at Birmingham City was the straw that broke the camel's back. Taylor had been under pressure for a while at the Memorial Stadium. They ended last season with only two wins in their last 11 matches, and there were only as many draws as victories in that time too.

That loss to Chris Davies' Blues at St Andrew's left the Gas on 21 points from 19 matches and only just outside the relegation zone. Almost all of the clubs below them had made a change in leadership since the start of the season, and it just felt like a matter of time before the final blow was delivered.

Now the Rovers hierarchy is looking for the next person to lead the Pirates' forthcoming era. A huge bucket of candidates haven't been chucked forward yet, but, according to one report, two potential options can almost certainly be chalked off.

Ryan Lowe and Steven Schumacher: unlikely options for Bristol Rovers

The respective former managers of Preston North End and Stoke City are considered to be non-feasible options to be Taylor's replacement, according to Hargraves.

Lowe has been out of work, in managerial terms, since he opted to leave the Lilywhites after the first game of this season. Both his and Schumacher's departures from the two Championship sides were unexpected, but Lowe's appeared to be much more initiated by him than Schumacher's exit from the bet365 stadium.

The two worked together at Plymouth Argyle before the ex-Preston man left to move to Lancashire. Schumacher stepped up from assistant to manager and got the Pilgrims promoted to the Championship two seasons ago. He then left to join Stoke in December 2023.

The Bristol Live reporter also suggested that Aitor Karanka - the former Birmingham, Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest boss - is also an unlikely option for the Gas because of his current role with UEFA. However, Hargraves does see another former City manager - Gary Rowett - as a more realistic candidate.

Bristol Rovers have been very ambitious with their manager candidates list

Rovers haven't exactly been without high-profile people in their dugout in recent times. Joey Barton led them to promotion in the 2021/22 campaign before being sacked last season.

If the likes of Lowe, Schumacher and Karanka were the type of people that they initially had down as possible choices, then it's clear to see that they aren't just wanting a safe pair of hands to nurse them through until the end of the season.

Given the positions that these men formerly held and the current state of the Championship's managerial conveyor belt, it would have been some move had they convinced one of them to turn down a second tier return in favour of the 20th-placed side in League One.

But, hey, there's nothing wrong with ambition as long as a little bit of realism is paired with it.