A former Blues boss is open to becoming the next Birmingham City manager.
Birmingham City have sacked Wayne Rooney following the club’s torrid spell of form under the former England and Manchester United striker.
Rooney oversaw 15 games in charge of Blues and won just two of them, taking 10 points from a possible 45 and leaving the club in 20th place of the table.
Several names have so far been linked with the St Andrew’s opening, including the likes of Jesse Marsch, Steve Cooper, Paul Heckingbottom, Ralph Hasenhuttl, and Will Still to name a few.
But Rooney’s predecessor John Eustace has been linked.
John Eustace keen on becoming next Birmingham City manager, but it’s unlikely
Sky Sports reporter Rob Dorsett says that the 44-year-old is ‘open to the idea’ of returning to Birmingham City.
But Dorsett adds that Eustace is unlikely to return and that the club’s owners are focusing their managerial search elsewhere
Dorsett recently posted on X:
Why a Eustace return is unlikely
There seems to be two immediate reasons why a Eustace return to Birmingham City is unlikely.
The first is that the Blues owners made a bold decision to sack him in the first place and so re-hiring Eustace would admit defeat, and potentially weaken their position in the view of the players, staff, and the fans too.
The second is that Birmingham City hired Rooney as manager to usher in a new style of play, and whether it was effective or not, he did that.
Rooney’s Birmingham City played much further up the pitch and with much more pressing after the now sacked Blues boss was tasked with bringing about that ‘no fear’ brand of football that fans had heard so much after Eustace’s sacking.
So unless Eustace has completely changed his style of play, or the owners have changed their minds about what they want going forward, Eustace returning seems highly unlikely.
Expect Birmingham City to bring in an attacking-minded manager next, like Rooney was, but expect them to do much more due diligence and hire a manager with more experience.
There are plenty of options out there and some of the recently sacked Premier League bosses seem like good bets; Cooper, Heckingbottom, or maybe Marsch.
But they might not have the big name that the Birmingham City owners and so the search only seems to have begun.
Up next for Blues is a trip to Hull City in the FA Cup this weekend, before returning to St Andrew’s against Swansea City the following weekend.