"Would be an interesting appointment" - Swansea City eyeing Birmingham City manager: The verdict | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Swansea City are likely to be looking for a new manager with Russell Martin moving onto Southampton.

Whilst this news hasn't been confirmed yet, it's been reported extensively that Martin will move to the St Mary's in the coming days, leaving the Swans to find a new manager.

Southampton confirmed that current manager Ruben Selles will leave at the end of the season, paving the way for the former MK Dons boss to take charge.

Who should Swansea City turn to next?

It's a position the Swans would have wanted to avoid as much as possible, given the progression the team has made under Martin over the last 12 months.

This is all whilst operating on a small budget and tough circumstances given the lack of investment into the team from the board.

With Martin likely to leave in the next few days, rumours have begun to swirl about his successor. One name in particular that has entered the frame is Birmingham City manager John Eustace.

The Daily Mail reported that the Swans are looking to appoint Eustace two years after he turned down the job originally. With this in mind, we asked our team of writers for their thoughts on the potential appointment, and whether it would be a good fit for the Swans.

Simmey Hannifin-Donaldson

I think this would be an interesting appointment from Swansea City.

Kidderminster Harriers aside, the Blues were Eustace's first chance at senior management and, given the ongoings at Birmingham City, he did relatively well.

Indeed, I would not say that the club finishing 17th is a reflection of his ability in a negative way as such. In fact, at the beginning of the campaign, a lot of people were tipping the Blues to perhaps go down.

I don't think Blues supporters would really want to lose Eustace this summer and I think that tells you everything you need to know about how he got on this past season.

It would certainly be a gamble from Swansea's perspective, though, as they are not getting a proven manager in who has won promotion from the division before or has history of reaching the play-offs.

Those sorts of names are out there with the likes of Chris Wilder or dare I say it, Nathan Jones available, so it's interesting to see Swansea head in a different direction.

Adam Elliott

This feels like a solid choice, albeit a downgrade on Southampton-bound Russell Martin.

Eustace has done extremely well under difficult circumstances at Birmingham, where he has had to operate with one hand tied behind his back due to financial restraints.

Is his brand of football and general philosophy as exciting and front-foot as Martin’s? No. However, he could definitely manage at a higher level with a club with less off the field issues.

It wouldn’t be an eye-catching choice, but one which should have Swansea more than safe again, and Eustace’s contacts within the Premier League could prove to be useful in the loan market, too.

Justin Peach

It would be better to judge Eustace's style based on his time at Kidderminster and QPR as opposed to Birmingham City.

His time at Kidderminster and QPR brought about a more progressive, possession based style compared to that of his time at Birmingham. That's not to say his time with the Blues hasn't been a success, it has, but he's been dealt circumstances that have brought about a different style.

That is perhaps the reason why this would be a good appointment for the Swans. He's shown that he can play differing styles and differing formations, while dealing with difficult circumstances and still creating a competitive squad.