It is being reported that Steve Cotterill’s stint with Birmingham City is set to end after Saturday’s game against Nottingham Forest. The Blues have been at the bitter end of 5 straight defeats in all competitions and is currently back in the relegation scraps of the Championship.
According to respected City source, Daniel Ivery, former Middlesbrough and Leeds United manager, Garry Monk is expected to be named Cotterill’s successor. 5 supporting staff of Monk’s choosing will be allowed to join him at St. Andrew’s for the immediate future.
This is not exactly a shock as far as Championship news go. City were favourably looking towards surviving a season in the Championship after going past Leeds, Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday earlier in the year but after failing to score in their last 4 league fixtures, the drop to League One looks more than likely.
Barnsley are 2 points ahead of them in the safe zone and the Blues have 12 games to save themselves from relegation. While Steve Cotterill can be critiqued on a few occasions for making the wrong tactical choices, it will be harsh to say that the blame lies completely on him.
The club dug their own grave when they fired Gary Rowett for Gianfranco Zola after the 2015/16 season. Rowett had finally stabilised the team and remarkably put them back on the map with 2 tenth-place finishes. But it was not good enough for the owners and they are paying the price right now.
Garry Monk’s managerial career has shifted around the ranks of English football over the past 4 years. He found himself coaching the Swansea City first team as an interim player-manager after the sacking of Michael Laudrup on 14 February 2014. He helped the Swans to Premier League safety that season and earned himself the head coach badge for the following campaign.
The Welsh club ended the 2014/15 campaign with a record tally of points in the 8th spot of the points table. However, Monks 12-year association with the club ended in December of 2015 after a run of 11 games with just 1 win.
It was Leeds who won the race to sign Monk in the successive season and the decision paid off with the Whites missing out on the playoff spots by tiny measures. It came as a shock to United’s then-owner, Andrea Ragazzini when Monk quit his job as the manager on 25 May.
Monk later took over the head post at Middlesbrough in the summer of 2017 with the same ambition of earning a promotion but was on the tight end of another sacking just days ahead of the Boxing Day fixture.
Monk’s achievements are laudable and his techniques are quite unique. He can be the man to resurrect Birmingham’s status in the following campaign. However, even he will be tested in the rough waters of Championship survival.
