Birmingham City manager Tony Mowbray just summitted his resignation letter to the management…..

Latest Birmingham City news from BirminghamLive includes candidates to replace Tony Mowbray in the managerial hotseat

Birmingham City are searching for their fourth permanent manager 10 months into the Knighthead era after Tony Mowbray stepped down from his duties.

Blues have confirmed that Mowbray, 60, has left the club permanently three months after he stepped aside to receive medical treatment. Knighthead are now looking to hire a new manager to lead the club in League One following their relegation from the Championship.

The club are hoping the new manager will be able to provide stability and success after a turbulent 2023/24 campaign which saw Blues employ six managers in total, including three on an interim basis.

There isn’t a shortage of potential candidates for Blues’ hierarchy to choose from. Here are some managers who could be of interest to Blues…

The stand-out candidate on the market is undoubtedly Liam Rosenior. The 39-year-old was surprisingly axed by Hull City after they finished seventh in the Championship, missing out on the play-offs by three points.

Rosenior has proved himself capable of building a successful second tier team and attracted a number of high quality players to Hull. He was instrumental in the likes of Jaden Philogene and Fabio Carvalho choosing to move to Hull last term.

We all know by now the style of football Knighthead want Blues to play, be it in League One or the Championship. Rosenior is an advocate for that style and his Hull side were among the best to watch in the second tier.

The big question is whether Rosenior would drop down to League One after doing so well in the Championship. Ever since his days as a pundit on Sky Sports, Rosenior has come across as thoughtful and intelligent enough to appreciate the potential in a project. He could be Blues’ Kieran McKenna.

Rowett effectively had an audition for the job in the final eight games of last season. Had he kept Blues in the Championship, logic suggests he would have been a frontrunner.

A points return of 11 from eight games was fine and Rowett wasn’t to blame for Blues’ relegation. But those two draws with Rotherham and Huddersfield, which ultimately sent Blues down, will count against him.

Neil is a manager with a promotion from League One on his CV, but his last job at Stoke City didn’t go too well. The Scot watched some of Blues’ games last season and even visited St Andrew’s to take in the Middlesbrough game in the middle of March.

By that point it had become apparent that Blues might require a new interim to take over from Mark Venus, but they opted for Rowett instead of Neil. Nevertheless, Neil’s promotion to the Championship with Sunderland in 2022 works in his favour now that Blues are in the third tier.

Cole arrived at the same time as Wayne Rooney in October but he was headhunted by the club. The coaches Rooney insisted on were Carl Robinson, John O’Shea and Pete Shuttleworth.

The 43-year-old’s responsibilities were limited under Rooney but he was empowered at the beginning of Mowbray’s tenure and Rowett kept him around. There is a feeling that Premier League Hall of Famer Cole will want to go it alone at some stage.

Senior figures at the club rate Cole highly but have they seen enough to let him cut his managerial teeth during what is undeniably a crucial period in the club’s history?

A more credible option for the number one job than Cole, albeit a slightly ambitious one, is the man he worked under at Chelsea and Everton, Frank Lampard. Lampard has been out of work for over 12 months now since a difficult spell managing Everton.

His body of work before moving to Goodison Park is respectable. Lampard led Derby County to the Championship play-off finals in 2019 and guided Chelsea to a top four finish in his first season at Stamford Bridge.