Is The Writing On The Wall For Cotterill? If So, Who Next?

Four straight defeats without a goal and two points off safety, things are looking rather bleak for the club, and for Steve Cotterill.

Whether the Blues stump up the cash to sack the former Bristol City manager is up for the debate, but if we do dispense with his services after just five months, are there any candidates out there who would be willing to take on the role? Here are three names who could possibly take up the reins:

Lee Carsley

He will almost certainly take over as caretaker manager for the second time this season if the current boss gets the axe, but there are some big question marks over whether he would be willing to take up the job on a permanent basis.

The former Blues midfielder would be ideal in some ways. He knows the club after previously being a player. He knows the league after having also managed Brentford for an extended caretaking spell when he won Championship Manager of the Month, and he knows the young players after being the club`s head of professional development briefly before becoming assistant manager.

Gordon Strachan

The Sun`s print edition suggests either the former Scotland manager or Garry Monk could be targeted by the club. The latter has been linked with the Baggies in recent days so he is far less likely to be in contention than Strachan.

The Scotsman was successful at Celtic, all be it in what is a two-team league, while he had moderate success at Southampton, guiding them to a FA Cup final in 2003. However, his only experience of managing in the English second tier was a poor spell with Middlesbrough.

Paul Hurst

A bit of a left field choice but the Shrewsbury Town manager is doing a great job with the League One club, and was reportedly interesting Sheffield Wednesday – when the Owls sacked Carlos Carvalhal in December.

After guiding Grimsby to promotion from the National League in 2016, he took over the Shrews when they were rooted to the bottom of table. He guided them to safety, finishing 18th, and then constructed a promotion challenging team this season; currently sitting second in League One with 12 games to go.