A former Southampton boss could be become the next Birmingham City manager.
Birmingham City made the decision to sack Wayne Rooney yesterday.
The former England and Manchester United striker lasted just 15 games in charge, winning two and leaving Blues in 20th place of the table after taking charge with the club in 6th.
Since what feels like an inevitable sacking, several names have been linked with the job at St Andrew’s including Young Lions boss Lee Carsley, but one new name coming into contention is former Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl.
Alex Crook says Ralph Hasenhuttl is ‘ready to return to work’
As a player, Hasenhuttl racked up more than 500 career appearances playing in Austria and Germany, but he’s best known for his career in the dugout.
The 56-year-old started in the lower leagues of Germany before making his name during a three-year spell with FC Ingolstadt where he won the 2 Bundesliga title, then landing the RB Leipzig job in 2016.
After a two-year spell there, he landed the Southampton job where he was until December 2022, overseeing 173 games and winning 59, with an 11th place finish in the 2019/20 campaign being his highest.
And now, talkSPORT reporter Alex Crook says that Hasenhuttl is ‘ready to return’ to the dugout after more than a year out, potentially hinting that he could be the next Birmingham City manager.
Hasenhuttl would be a huge appointment for Birmingham City
Birmingham City took a chance on Rooney, and it backfired massively.
There was a slight glimmer of hope that Rooney would be a masterstroke and there were brief signs, in games against Cardiff City and Leicester City in the past few weeks, that Rooney could well be the man to take the club forward.
But Blues have acted on this poor run of form and with the January transfer window having just opened, they’ll no doubt want to bring in a manager ASAP and give him ample time in this month’s window.
And hiring a manager with Hasenhuttl’s pedigree would be huge.
He’s tried and tested with a 2nd place finish with RB Leipzig in the 2016/17 campaign being his pinnacle, then that 11th place finish with the Saints in the Premier League.
He played some exciting football with the now Championship club and even found himself being linked with Manchester United at one point.
Obviously, tempting Hasenhuttl to St Andrew’s would be the difficult part.
It could take a lot of capital to do so and it would be a huge risk for Hasenhuttl, who remains a manager with a good reputation despite his Southampton downfall, but should he see this Blues side into League One, or a narrow 21st place finish, his reputation would take a huge hit.
It’s ambitious, for sure, and bringing in Hasenhuttl would be a hugely exciting appointment. Right now though it seems unlikely that Hasenhuttl is the next Birmingham City manager.