Birmingham City have been offered the chance to bring in a 4-2-3-1 style manager in place of Toby Mowbray this summer, in what could be a huge development.
A season to forget for Birmingham
It has been a bleak season at St Andrews, with the Blues suffering relegation from the Championship to League One, following 13 straight years in the second tier of English Football.
Things appeared to be going smoothly with John Eustace in charge earlier in the campaign, but he was inexplicably sacked as manager back in October, despite Birmingham sitting sixth in the table and in the playoff positions at the time.
Wayne Rooney came in as his replacement, but the England legend suffered a poor spell in charge, losing nine out of 15 matches in charge. Former Blues boss Steve Bruce showed his support for him at the time, however, saying: “He had what, 3 months in charge? For me, I think it’s a little bit harsh on him, I think he needs a little bit more time than that.”
Mowbray came in as Rooney’s successor, but sadly, health issues cut his season short, and Gary Rowett was then unable to keep Birmingham in the Championship, with their fate sealed earlier this month.
It remains to be seen if Mowbray will be able to return, but if he doesn’t, it looks as though a shock appointment could happen in his place.
Birmingham could make stunning manager appointment
According to a new update from Football Insider, Bruce could make a return to Birmingham as manager for the second time, with the Englishman “keen” on what the report calls a “stunning” return to St Andrews.
The report says that the 63-year-old is “not yet ready to finish his managerial career and still has ambitions of guiding a new team, with the possible vacancy at his old Club putting him on alert”. The Blues “could turn to the experienced boss to bring them back up”.
This would be a significant appointment if it happened this summer, although it would certainly split supporters’ opinions. The former Manchester United and Blues defender enjoyed some great success at St Andrews during his first stint, ending a 16-year absence from the top flight with a playoff victory over Norwich.
In total, he has masterminded four promotions during his managerial career, so he has genuine pedigree in the situation the Club now find themselves in.
|
Steve Bruce’s managerial record |
Matches |
Points per game |
|---|---|---|
|
West Brom |
32 |
1.13 |
|
Newcastle United |
97 |
1.15 |
|
Sheffield Wednesday |
18 |
1.61 |
|
Aston Villa |
102 |
1.60 |
|
Hull City |
201 |
1.47 |
|
Sunderland |
98 |
1.16 |
|
Wigan Athletic |
69 |
1.25 |
|
Birmingham City |
263 |
1.38 |
|
Crystal Palace |
17 |
1.94 |
|
Wigan Athletic |
12 |
1.42 |
|
Huddersfield Town |
62 |
1.34 |
|
Sheffield United |
50 |
1.54 |
Primarily a manager who likes to adopt a 4-2-3-1 formation, Bruce isn’t necessarily a modern-thinking young coach that some supporters would like to see come in, but he knows the Club extremely well and his aforementioned promotion record makes him a strong candidate to guide the Blues back into the Championship at the first attempt.