Fans’ choice Tuchel tempting prospect to beat McClaren to Newcastle job

Arsene Wenger protégé Remi Garde may be neck and neck with Steve McClaren in the betting to to land the vacant Newcastle United post but it could prove worthwhile backing a Bundesliga-based outsider for the role if one poll is to be believed.

Thomas Tuchel may not be hipster football favourite Jurgen Klopp but he might well be the very next best thing, having earned his stripes at the very same club as the current Borussia Dortmund manager: Mainz.

Appointed manager of the Bundesliga outfit back in the summer of 2009, Tuchel faced an almighty task to keep the newly-promoted German side in the top-flight, following a period of disruption at the club that saw manager Jorn Andersen unceremoniously dismissed despite winning promotion.

Prior to his appointment Tuchel had been in charge of the O-Fives under-19 team, with the step up looking, on paper at least, something of a daunting prospect.

But the 41-year-old’s time with the youth side proved to be the making of the Mainz manager, with an approach to nurturing young talent at the club that soon bore positive results.

Having kept Mainz in the top-flight, the 2010-11 campaign started with a bang as Mainz won their first seven league games under Tuchel – including a victory over Bayern Munich – with the likes of the then-on-loan Lewis Holtby emerging as a major talent in a team that ended the season in fifth.

Soon a mainstay of the Bundesliga, the club qualified for the Europa League at the end of the 2013-14 season but Tuchel, who had previously been approached by Schalke and Bayer Leverkusen, decided it was time to move on, asking to be released from his contract with the club.

Currently unattached the German remains a 20/1 outsider to be named the next Newcastle United manager amid reports he is keen on taking a break from the game until next season.

However Tuchel appears a popular choice with Magpies fans, according to a new poll from the Chronicle that has the former Mainz man as the leading candidate for the job among supporters of the club.

St Etienne manager Christophe Galtier is in a similar situation with the French club where he would most likely only leave in the summer.

For now though it’s Garde and McClaren who lead the way at odds of 5/2 respectively, though more twists and turns are expected in the coming days.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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