The eight senior players out of contract at Birmingham City are not the only ones who require clarity on their futures this summer. Blues enter the close season with a plethora of unanswered questions surrounding their coaching staff.
Clarification on the manager has to be Blues’ top priority. Tony Mowbray stepped down in February to undergo medical treatment with the expectation that he would return and lead the club in pre-season.
Mowbray’s health is more important than any footballing outcome but Blues can ill afford to head into June without absolute certainty on their managerial situation. Everyone needs to know who Blues’ manager is going to be next season before the transfer merry-go-round commences next month.
We witnessed first-hand how important the figurehead of the team is during Mark Venus’s short stint as interim boss. Venus and the players appeared lost without their leader on the touchline.
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The future of Venus also needs sorting out. The 57-year-old’s six-game tenure during the month after Mowbray stepped down only yielded one point and was a contributing factor to Blues’ relegation.
Venus has been Mowbray’s number two for two decades and is undoubtedly his most trusted ally in the game. If Mowbray returns to Blues this summer, it would be a surprise if Venus didn’t come back with him.
But what will happen to the last remaining traces of the Wayne Rooney regime? Pete Shuttleworth is the only Rooney appointed coach left on Blues’ books but he wasn’t part of Gary Rowett’s staff. Rowett wanted fewer voices in the camp and Shuttleworth was reassigned.
Ashley Cole – who arrived at the same time as Rooney but was headhunted by the hierarchy – was utilised by Rowett. A core responsibility of Cole’s throughout this season has been set piece coaching.
Will Cole be part of the club’s coaching staff moving forward? That might depend on who the manager is. Almost everything depends on that. One thing is for certain this summer, the frequency of club statements isn’t going to slow down.
