I wouldn’t even consider it a case of another one biting the dust.
Because that would imply that there was an actual chance of it becoming a reality, but according to a claim from Blues journalist Brian Dick, it was highly unlikely to get off the ground.
After Pep Clotet’s announcement on Monday that he was going to leave the club at the end of the campaign, there has been plenty of speculation as to who is going to be the next man to take the role, and one of the names being mentioned is former Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic.
The Serbian certainly fits the apparent job description, having taken both Watford and Fulham to the Premier League, the latter of which taking them over when they were 18th in the table, so he certainly knows how to do it the hard way.
Speaking during a Q&A for Birmingham Live though, Dick more or less put an end to any sort of notion that the Serb would be making his way to St Andrew’s any time soon, for one pretty simple reason:
“I think the club would like Jokanovic but he’d need buying out of a lucrative contract in Qatar and would require what I think would be the biggest salary ever handed to a Blues manager.”
The board simply cannot remain this ambitious when it comes to the club’s future, yet at the same time be hesitant when it comes to handing out money.
Whilst I hold out some hope that the club will actually back the new manager, if this is the kind of thing that is likely to happen when it comes to the search, then I believe we need to set our expectations low, or at the very least, somewhat less exotic.
What about you? Do you think the club are limiting themselves when it comes to their targets because of their unwillingness to properly finance it?