Ex-Bristol City boss emerges as one of the early favourites for Exeter City job

Former Bristol City boss Dean Holden has emerged as one of the early favourites for the Exeter City job.

The Grecians are in the hunt for a new boss following the departure of Matt Taylor to Championship side Rotherham United.

They are currently 11th in the League One table after the opening 11 games following their promotion from League Two last season.

As per BetVictor, Holden is in the running for their vacancy and is currently priced at 8/1 (as of 20:15, 04.10.22).

Former Crewe Alexandra boss David Artell is the early frontrunner for the position at 3/1, with other names such as Paul Tisdale, Kevin Nicholson, Jon Hill, Paul Lambert and Liam Rosenior also mentioned.

Bristol City spell

Holden, who played for the likes of Bolton Wanderers, Peterborough United and Chesterfield in his playing days, had coaching spells at Oldham Athletic and Walsall before first moving to Bristol City as their number two under Lee Johnson in 2016.

He worked his way up to becoming the manager at Ashton Gate in July 2020 and spent seven months in charge of the Championship side.

The Robins won 43.9% of games under him before he was sacked in February 2021.

Holden, 43, subsequently moved to Stoke City to become Michael O’Neill’s assistant and became their caretaker boss earlier in this campaign before leaving when Alex Neil came in.

He was reported to be keen on joining Rotherham following Paul Warne’s exit to Derby County last month, as per reporter Alan Biggs, but is now a favourite to take over from Taylor who landed that job instead as the managerial merry-go round continues.