Birmingham City have parted company with manager Wayne Rooney following a disastrous 15 match spell at the club.
Wayne Rooney replaced John Eustace as manager of Birmingham City in October and many questioned such a ludicrous decision as he had the Blues fighting for the play-offs.
When Eustace was sacked, Birmingham were sat in sixth position in the Championship.
The former QPR boss had transformed a club that looked destined to be relegated to League One and gave a fanbase renewed hope.
That was instantly destroyed by Rooney, who took just two wins from his 15 matches in charge.
As a result, Birmingham have plummeted from sixth in the table to 20th in the space of three months and have had the worst record in the division.
With only six points separating them from the relegation zone, the decision to appoint Rooney will surely go down as one of the worst in the history of the club.
In a club statement, the Blues claimed that ‘results have not met the expectations that were made clear at the outset’.
Now, they must look to their next appointment, perhaps someone who has experience managing at this level to quickly turn their fortunes around.
Here are the front runners to replace Wayne Rooney as manager…
Managers in the running to replace Wayne Rooney
It’s vitally important that the club get this next appointment correct otherwise relegation could be looming for the Blues.
One man who has been linked with the post is former Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch.
He’s been out of work since being sacked by Leeds in February 2023 after failing to come close to eclipsing the legacy that Marcelo Bielsa left behind.
Given Birmingham are owned by US businessman Tom Wagner, links to Marsch are understandable but he flattered to deceive during his time in West Yorkshire.
Another who has been linked with the job is Steve Cooper.
After leading Nottingham Forest to the Premier League in 2022 and keeping them up last season, he was sacked by the Reds in December due to poor league position, and they’ve since won their first two matches under Nuno Espírito Santo.
This one would be an ambitious appointment for Birmingham to make but one that makes far more sense than their decision to hire Rooney.
Scott Parker, who has been out of work following his dismissal from Club Brugge in March 2023, is another name in the running.
Much like Cooper, Parker has vast experience in the second tier and has previously led Fulham and Bournemouth to Premier League promotions.
That said, convincing him to manage a team fighting at the wrong end of the Championship could be difficult unless he’s sold by the project at Birmingham.