Jermaine Pennant tips Sam Allardyce and Jesse Marsch to replace Wayne Rooney at Birmingham City | OneFootball

Highlights

Birmingham City are looking for their third head coach of the 2023-24 season after deciding to sack Wayne Rooney on Tuesday.

The 38-year-old's time in charge at St. Andrew's had not gone to plan as he only won two of his 15 games in charge, and chairman Tom Wagner was not willing to give the England icon a transfer window to try and put things right, leaving them in 20th position in the Championship table.

Sky Sports reporter Rob Dorsett has claimed that Jesse Marsch, Lee Carsley and Tony Mowbray are all on City's shortlist to replace Rooney, with Steve Cooper high up there as well if they can get him.

Pennant: Marsch and Allardyce could be good candidates for Birmingham job

Ex-Birmingham winger Jermaine Pennant has given his take on the potential next manager of his former club, and he believes that not only would rumoured candidate Jesse Marsch be a decent appointment, but he has also thrown the name of the experienced Sam Allardyce into the hat.

Both managers' last jobs were at Leeds United, with Marsch being sacked in February 2023 at Elland Road and after a short stint in the dugout for Javi Gracia, Allardyce took over for the remaining few games of 2023-24 but he could not save the Whites from the drop.

“It's hard because there's not really a lot out there in terms of good managers," Pennant exclusively told Football League World, courtesy of William Hill.

“Steve Cooper, would he go to the Championship? I’m not sure.

“Frank Lampard? Again, his past jobs and win ratio aren’t great. He knows the Championship and has been there with Derby County.

“It’s a tough one. Sam Allardyce? He’s a guy that knows how to get things done, he could be a candidate. “Jesse Marsch from Leeds United as well.

“It’s really tough to know who will go in there. That’s the owner’s job to get the insight, what their plan is, and what their vision is and see if that fits well with Birmingham.”

On Rooney's sacking, he added: “With Wayne, they either had to commit to longevity and say: ‘right we're gonna back you’, but then you're running the risk of continuing to get bad results and the next minute you're in the relegation zone.

“It's a tough one. If Wayne took over and they lost a few, won a few, drew a few, and were comfortably mid table, not far off the play-offs, things will be different.

“The fact is that they’re now 20th in the league and now in the relegation dogfight. The club will look at it and wonder whether they should stick with it. It’s obvious broken.

“Do they stick with it and see how it goes in the transfer window? It’s a risk. Club’s don’t want to run that risk so I think right now, it was better to get rid of Wayne and bring in a new manager with new ideas and have the transfer window ahead of them.”

Would Sam Allardyce be the right fit for Birmingham?

Whilst he has done good things over the years, especially in the Premier League, Sam Allardyce at the age of 69 is not what Birmingham need right now.

City have a lot of young talents that need nurturing by a very hands-on coach, and Allardyce is more of a manager type that would like control of a lot of aspects.

Birmingham meanwhile have a more modern, continental way of doing things with a technical director, and the vacancy would be more befitting of a younger type with a track record of being more of a head coach.

Marsch could fit into that bracket having spent a lot of time in the Red Bull system, but this does not appear to be the right fit for someone like Allardyce.