Frontrunner emerges as Birmingham City look to name Tony Mowbray’s successor | OneFootball

Alex Neil is now in ‘pole position’ to land the Birmingham City job after holding productive talks with the club over the managerial vacancy.

It’s been a chaotic year for Blues, with American Tom Wagner leading a new takeover of the club that brought optimism and excitement to St. Andrew’s.

Whilst his big ambitions still offer hope for a bright future, the new regime made plenty of mistakes in the past year, notably when they sacked John Eustace and brought in Wayne Rooney.

The England legend was then sacked, with Tony Mowbray coming in, but a health issue meant he had to step back, with Gary Rowett coming in for the run-in.

Ultimately, Blues were relegated to League One, and they will be playing in the third tier for the first time in over 30 years when the new season starts in August.

Alex Neil is a leading contender for Birmingham City job

With Mowbray unable to continue, the club have been tasked with bringing in a new head coach, and a host of names have been linked with the role in the past few weeks.

It was revealed that Neil was one of those under consideration, and Football Insider has now claimed that he could be in line to take over.

They state that the Scotsman has had an interview with the Midlands outfit, and that he is now in ‘pole position’ to take over.

It’s thought that the ex-Sunderland chief is ready for a return to management after he was sacked by Stoke City earlier in the season, so this could seemingly move at pace.

Alex Neil is a sensible choice for Birmingham City

The potential arrival of the 42-year-old has prompted mixed reactions from the support, but it does seem a sensible appointment from the hierarchy if it does go through.

It’s clear that there’s only one objective for Blues next season - they have to win promotion, and that’s exactly what Neil has proven he can deliver.

He notably led Norwich City to the Premier League, but, perhaps more importantly for Blues, he has experience of winning promotion from League One, having taken Sunderland to the Championship in 2022.

Like there will be at Birmingham, there was a lot of pressure on the Black Cats to get out of League One, and Neil managed to mastermind their success.

As well as that, he has plenty of experience in the Championship, so he could also be viewed as a long-term option and someone who could establish Blues back in the second tier, which has to be the aim in the next few years.

Finally, they would also be getting a manager with a point to prove. Neil had a very good reputation after the work he did at Carrow Road, and he was also popular following his work at Sunderland, with a solid time at Preston sandwiched in between.

Yet, his decision to move to Stoke backfired, and Neil will be desperate to bounce back from that, even if it means dropping to League One.

The Birmingham board need to make an appointment quickly, as a massive summer awaits, and whoever is in charge will want to reshape the squad ahead of what is expected to be a promotion push next season.