Birmingham City have been through a number of managers during the course of this season.
The campaign began with John Eustace in charge. However, he was surprisingly replaced by Wayne Rooney in October.
That is a move that badly backfired, with Blues plummeting down the Championship table. As a result, Rooney was sacked and replaced by Tony Mowbray in January.
With such changes in the management at St Andrew’s, there have also been plenty of backroom staff to have come and gone from the club over the course of the campaign.
Now, one of those to have left Birmingham City not that long ago, has secured a return to football.
John O’Shea takes on managerial role
When Rooney was appointed as Blues manager, he brought a number of his own staff with him to St Andrew’s.
One of those to follow him to Birmingham City, was his former Manchester United teammate John O’Shea. He took on the role of first-team coach at St Andrew’s.
However, following Rooney’s departure last month, O’Shea would also leave the club.
The 42-year-old is now back in management however. It was announced on Wednesday that O’Shea has taken over as the new interim manager of the Republic of Ireland.
That will see the former Birmingham City coach take charge of friendlies against Switzerland and Belgium during the March international break.
O’Shea, who will be assisted in the role by Crystal Palace coach Paddy McCarthy, won 118 caps for the Republic of Ireland as a player.
A permanent appointment to the position is expected to be announced at the start of April.
Birmingham City fans may watch O’Shea with interest
There could be plenty of Blues fans keen to see how O’Shea goes during this interim role with the Republic of Ireland.
The 42-year-old was part of the backroom team at St Andrew’s at an incredibly difficult time.
With Rooney in charge and O’Shea as one of his assistants, Blues won just two of 15 games in total.
The Irishman now stepping into a managerial role for himself, so Birmingham City fans may be keen to see if he can make a better go of this than Rooney did.
However, it should be noted this will not be an easy job for him. He is taking over a team whose only two wins in their last nine games, both came against the minnows of Gibraltar.
O’Shea is also going up against two teams with plenty of quality in Belgium and Switzerland. Indeed, unlike the Republic of Ireland, both have qualified for Euro 2024.
It could therefore be unfair to judge the former Birmingham City coach too harshly, if he finds things tough in his first experience as a senior manager.