Birmingham make contact to hire “magnificent” Rosenior alternative

The Blues can set their sights away from Liam Rosenior with this potential managerial appointment.

Birmingham City’s relegation down to League One at the end of this season was many years in the making, the Blues often surviving by the skin of their teeth, with the relegation trapdoor finally getting the better of them this campaign.

Not finishing above 17th in the Championship the last eight seasons, the Blues falling to the third tier for the first time in 29 years will still obviously sting, even if it’s not come as an overall shock considering the club’s gradual decline.

Birmingham had some hope when Tony Mowbray came in that things were going to be brighter, but with his stay cut short owing to health issues, interim boss Gary Rowett couldn’t inspire his group from the sidelines to stay put in the second tier either.

It’ll be up to yet another new manager in the St. Andrew’s dug-out to try and breathe life back into the faltering club now, as the Blues embark on an unusual quest to win promotion instead of striving to keep their heads above water.

Birmingham eyeing promotion hero
If the underperforming Blues desire a promotion hero, it’s no real surprise to seem they’re targeting former Sunderland manager Alex Neil for the hot-seat, as has been reported by journalist John Percy.

The Daily Telegraph journalist further revealed that talks have taken place between the relegated side and Neil over the vacancy, with the Scotsman high up their list presumably after winning promotion back up to the Championship for Sunderland in 2022.

Able to breathe life back into one sleeping giant means Neil could be up for the task of doing the exact same in another new location, with the 42-year-old boss also boasting a promotion up to the Premier League with Norwich City on his impressive CV.

Why Neil can be a perfect Rosenior alternative
Described as being a “magnificent” manager by ex-Sunderland great Peter Reid off-the-back of his heroics on Wearside, before his career slumped somewhat at Stoke City after the Black Cats with only 21 wins amassed from 66 games, Neil could now fancy bouncing back with Birmingham to show his time with the Potters was nothing more than a blip on his glittering resume.

Able to come in and transform a club’s fortunes quickly as seen with Sunderland in the table above, or consolidate a club in the second-tier as he did at Preston, Neil could be an ideal alternative to Liam Rosenior who looks to have rejected the Blues’ advances, according to reports.

As much as Rosenior’s stock is high now, Neil would, arguably, be a safer pair of hands for Birmingham in the here and now over the ex-Hull City boss.

Not cowering under the weight of immense expectation at the Stadium of Light, the Scotsman could thrive under the same pressures again here with his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation set-up also suiting the relegated Blues.

Birmingham won 1-0 on the final day of the season set up in that exact arrangement, with Paik Seung-Ho squeezing the ball into the net, and so Neil could find he doesn’t have to completely rip everything up next season to get the best out of his new troops.

Neil could also be enough for the likes of John Ruddy to stay situated at St Andrew’s ahead of next season, with talk that Blackburn Rovers are after the experienced goalkeeper’s services this summer, having managed him during his hay-day at Norwich.

Rosenior might well be viewed as the flashier and on-trend name, having just narrowly missing out on the Championship playoffs with Hull, but Birmingham could do far worse than opting to go for Neil instead to stabilise the ship.