Sacked Birmingham City boss 'in talks' to take over Championship club with Paul Heckingbottom twist


Former Birmingham City manager Wayne Rooney has emerged as a key contender for the vacant Plymouth Argyle job.
The Telegraph reported on Thursday (May 24) evening that the Pilgrims had been in talks about taking over Home Park. He is said to be in 'serious contention' and the pursuit of the Man United and England legend has been driven by Neil Dewsnip who was the former academy boss of Rooney's first club Everton.
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Hide AdThe 38-year-old has recently committed to being a pundit for the BBC at EURO 2024. He is also part of a tug-of-war between Sky Sports and TNT Sport to become a pundit for their coverage of the Premier League but he did hold ambitions of returning to the dugout.
If Plymouth are to prioritise appointing Rooney then that would free up Birmingham to push ahead with Paul Heckingbottom in their own search for a new boss. Heckingbottom along with Alex Neil have emerged as the two front-runners for the St Andrew’s gig.
National media reported earlier this week that Heckingbottom was closing in on being appointed at Plymouth and that an appointment was close to being made. Several options are said to have been considered for the Plymouth job and now if Rooney has moved ahead of the former Sheffield United boss in the pecking order, then he could fall back on managing Birmingham.
It was reported by Alan Nixon, an EFL journalist for The Sun that Heckingbottom was ‘on the radar’ of Birmingham and that would talks would take place over the coming days. Former Preston North End boss Alex Neil has held ‘initial talks’ however and so far is the leading candidate for the role. Nixon added that Ian Evatt, manager of losing League One play-off finalists Bolton Wanderers was also on their radar but it was unsure at this time whether they would be speaking to him.
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