With the recent departure of Steve Bruce as manager of Birmingham they’ve been scouring the football world for an avid replacement. Bruce has taken over at Wigan after the sacking of Chris Hutchings. His job was already on the line due to the expected takeover bid of businessman Carson Yeung in January.
Bruce spent six years in charge at Birmingham and only two weeks ago he explained that “positive†talks were held with Yeung after Birmingham beat Wigan 3-2. This is not the first time Bruce has been the boss at Wigan though as he had a brief spell in charge in 2001. Hutchings’ reign was also short lived as he was the manager of Wigan for only 12 matches. Wigan will apparently pay £3m compensation to Birmingham whilst Bruce will earn £2m a year.
So who will takeover at Birmingham now then? Well they’ve just had an offer to Marcello Lippi rejected. Surprised? Not really. Ambitious is the more suitable word. The World Cup winning boss of the Italy 2006 side was offered the spot by the Blues co-owner David Sullivan. Questioned on the matter after hearing on Lippi’s rejection Sullivan told the Birmingham Mail, “This is not a stunt, it’s genuine – he is available and we are looking at bringing in a manager of his stature and calibre, if at all possible.â€
Let’s be real here. Birmingham are not a bad side and they have passionate fans with a strong history – but they are currently 19th in the league and look set to drop straight back into the Championship after only just being promoted. Now, do they honestly think Lippi, winner of 5 Serie A titles with Juventus and sending them into 4 Champions League finals, winning one of them in 1996, plus not to mention again that World Cup last year, that he’s actually going to suddenly take control of the relegation battling Brum side?
It doesn’t stop there though. Birmingham have already made an audacious bid to land Martin Jol with the job, who also rejected their offer. Sullivan said he’s looking to bring in some body of the same calibre as these men. Does he really think his team are the same calibre as the ones these men have managed? In the meantime Bruce’s former assistant Eric Black will take control of the side for the match against Portsmouth at the weekend. Even he is not certain to stick around much longer though as Wigan are trying to lure him in as well!
I can understand that Birmingham may be getting a little excited at the possibility of Yeung’s takeover, and the finances that will follow, but they can’t get carried away all of a sudden. The status isn’t going to come over night. They need to look at the bigger picture, that the season is already half way gone and that they are second from bottom. They need to get realistic about who they are going to bring in and fast because they could eventually find themselves without Black, and if that happens then they will be in serious trouble.
Next offer José Mourinho then…
Source: And Birmingham’s New Boss Is…
