Report: the big names Birmingham City is considering for the managerial role……chech it out.

BirminghamLive’s most recent story on Birmingham City highlights some of the lesser-known players that have performed admirably in Leagues One and Two.

Although Alex Neil is one of the established possibilities Birmingham City is considering for their managerial post, there are a few unconventional names you should investigate further.

Neil, who is currently 42 years old and has earned three promotions, was a relatively inexperienced gamble for Norwich City in 2015 when he led them to their first-ever Premier League promotion. In their first full seasons in command, Kieran McKenna and John Mousinho, respectively, have shown that experience isn’t everything by leading Ipswich Town and Portsmouth out of League One in recent years.

Naturally, McKenna has outperformed himself by leading Ipswich into the Premier League with consecutive promotions. The Blues are attempting to weigh all of their options in light of the Ipswich tale.

Knighthead wants the Blues to become a possession-based team and intends to use analytics to inform their hiring and signing decisions, even if we probably won’t see the “no fear football” phrase used again. It will be expected of the manager to build a Blues team that can dominate possession of the ball and outscore opponents in League One.

These are a few unconventional prospects that the Blues will surely be considering throughout their thorough hunt for a new manager.

Dave Challinor

Challinor’s track record as a manager is admirable. With two promotions in three seasons, he has guided Stockport’s ascent from the National League to League One, where they will take on the Blues in the upcoming season.

Hollywood-backed Wrexham was defeated by Stockport in 2021/22 to win the National League title, and they did it again the previous season to win League Two. They achieved this by playing fast-paced, aggressive football and leading the league in goals scored (96).

Last season, Challinor’s Stockport averaged 13.5 shots and 56.8% possession per game. It’s interesting to note that they ranked as League Two’s fourth-most aerially dominant club, indicating that Challinor is a coach with backup plans.

Michael Williamson

MK Dons had a very excellent season under new boss Williamson, if you ignore their 8-1 thrashing at the hands of Crawley Town over the course of two legs in the League Two play-offs. Russell Martin and Liam Manning have recently emerged from Milton Keynes, and in his first season as manager, Williamson led the Dons to a fourth-place finish.

Under Williamson, a former Premier League defender with Newcastle United, the Dons produced an entertaining brand of football, winning 46 League Two games with 83 goals. The Dons had 14.6 shots per game, an 80.3 percent pass completion rate, and a 57.5 percent possession rate on average. Williamson, forty, has demonstrated potential to be the next quality manager to come off the MK Dons assembly line.

After leading non-league Gateshead to the National League North championship and solidifying his position in the National League with a 14th-place finish in 2022–2023 season, Williamson secured the position as manager.

Lindsey Scott

Mentioning Lindsey in the same sentence as Williamson seems appropriate. The 52-year-old Lindsey was the brains behind MK Dons’ elimination from the playoffs. In the end, his Crawley Town team defeated Crewe Alexandra 2-0 at Wembley to earn promotion.

Lindsey, a Walsall native who has played for the local non-league teams Tamworth, Sutton Coldfield Town, and Stafford Rangers, has worked wonders at Crawley, and he has done it in style.

At the beginning of the season, Crawley was predicted to be relegated, but they exceeded all expectations by finishing inside the playoffs. With an average of 57.1 percent of the ball, they were dominant in the possession game and scored 83 goals, a total only surpassed by five other clubs.

Michael Skubala

It is hard not to be impressed by the work former Leeds United interim manager Skubala has done at Lincoln City as they enter League One. In November, Skubala took over as head coach from former Blues coach Mark Kennedy, and he completely changed the Imps’ season.

They had the fifth-best goal differential in the league and finished seventh, just missing out on the play-offs. Lincoln has the second-best defensive record in the league, in large part because to goalie Lukas Jensen, which contributed to that goal differential.

But Skubala’s Lincoln team mostly played counterattacking football and only had 42.1 percent of the ball on average per game. Lincoln also had the fewest shots per game of any club, at six.

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Sheffield United and former Leeds United manager has ‘into talks’ with Birmingham City.

According to reports, Paul Heckingbottom, the manager of Sheffield United and former Leeds United, has scheduled a meeting with Birmingham City.
The 46-year-old, who faces relegation from the Premier League, has been unemployed since leaving the Blades midway through the 2023–2024 season. But Heckingbottom was the one who led Sheffield United to the top division in the first place, and a second-place result meant automatic promotion.

When a head coach of that kind becomes available, it is impossible to pass them up, and the Blues have acknowledged this by scheduling a meeting with Heckingbottom. Journalist Alan Nixon says that Birmingham and Heckingbottom will be holding talks in the near future on his Patreon page.

But the Plymouth Argyle are reportedly already in the running, so the Blues will have fierce competition. After dismissing Ian Foster in April, the Championship team, who at the end of the 2023–24 season narrowly defeated Birmingham to safety, have been without a manager.

Heckingbottom started his management career in 2016 and stayed at Barnsley until 2018, when he briefly moved to Leeds. Heckingbottom then spent seven months with Scottish Premiership team Hibernian before commencing a new chapter with Sheffield United, starting with the Under-21 team and a caretaker role.

Before a decision is made, Birmingham is speaking with a number of prospects, not just Heckingbottom. Among them is Alex Neil, a former manager of Sunderland, Norwich City, and Stoke City, according to The Telegraph. It has also been spoken about Gary Rowett, who replaced Steve Bruce for the last eight games of the season on an interim basis.