Birmingham City are drawing up a shortlist of managerial targets, with Gary Rowett and Brian McDermott expected to feature prominently, after Lee Clark was sacked on the eve of Tuesday night’s fixture at Blackburn Rovers.
Although Clark has been under pressure, he had no inkling Saturday’s defeat by Bolton Wanderers would prove to be his last match and gave a press conference in advance of Tuesday’s match at Blackburn before learning of his fate.
Clark paid the price for a disastrous run of form at home that has seen Blues win only one of their past 24 Championship fixtures at St Andrew’s. Losing 1-0 there against Bolton proved to be the tipping point, leaving Birmingham 21st in the table and one point above the relegation zone.
In a statement confirming the dismissal of Clark, along with his assistant Steve Watson, Birmingham said that the board “will look to make an appointment in the very near future”. It is understood they are unlikely to name a successor until after the weekend.
The club’s financial problems are likely to have a significant effect on the kind of manager Birmingham are able to attract and it remains to be seen whether someone like Rowett, who has impressed during his time in charge of Burton Albion, would be prepared to take that leap of faith. Only last month Rowett, a former Birmingham player, rejected an approach from Blackpool and said that he planned to stay with Burton for the foreseeable future.
McDermott, who parted company with Leeds United in May, and Owen Coyle, out of work since losing his job at Wigan in December, are among the other names in the frame. Chris Hughton has also been linked with a return to St Andrew’s but that would appear to be a non-starter.
Clark’s departure makes him the 18th managerial change across the leagues since the start of the domestic season. His reign, which began in June 2012, coincided with chaos and turbulence in the boardroom – in March Carson Yeung, who took over the club in 2009, was jailed for six years for money laundering – that forced him to work within tight financial constraints.
Birmingham came perilously close to suffering relegation from the Championship last season, when Paul Caddis scored an injury-time equaliser on the final day to keep them up on goal difference. This season was in danger of following a similar path, with only two victories from the opening 12 league matches, although Clark had come out fighting just before the news that he was losing his job.
“I’m definitely not walking away, no chance,” he said. “This is a big club, I love working for it and I am proud to be the manager. There have been a lot of tough days and I haven’t put up with that for over two years just to walk away.
“I’ve got to come out fighting for myself because there’s no one else doing that at the moment. There’s some unnecessary criticism of what’s happening. I’m not after a kiss and a cuddle – maybe from the Mrs – and supporters are within their rights to boo but it’s easy to boo when you lose.
“I understand I am not flavour of the month with the supporters and a lot of them would like to see someone different but I’m not too sure if things would change. I think I’m getting everything out of the players.”
In the wake of Clark’s exit, Richard Beale, Birmingham’s first-team coach, and Malcolm Crosby, the chief scout, will take charge at Blackburn.
