Former Birmingham City boss and two Wolves icons ‘lead’ race for Millwall job

A former Birmingham City manager and two Wolves icons are amongst the frontrunners to take the Millwall job, according to the bookmakers.

The Championship outfit are currently searching for a long term replacement for Gary Rowett who agreed to leave Millwall by mutual consent after four years in the dugout.

Rowett is credited with guiding the Lions to top half finishes in each of his seasons in charge but was unable to hit the desired target of reaching the play-offs after a number of near misses.The 49-year-old leaves the club 15th in the Championship after a run of four wins in their opening 11 league games and they are currently three points off the play-off places.

The leading candidate to take on the vacant role is former Wolves icon Kevin Muscat. The Australian midfielder enjoyed a five year stay at Molineux from 1997 to 2002 which saw him make over 180 league appearances.

The 46-time Socceroos international was regarded as a tough tackling midfielder who played a crucial role in breaking up the play in midfield.

Muscat is also known for spells at Rangers and Millwall and was also heavily linked with the post at Ibrox before Philippe Clement’s arrival.

The 50-year-old’s coaching career has seen him work closely with Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou who he succeeded in the dugout at both Melbourne Victory in Australia and Yokohama F.Marinos in Japan.

He has enjoyed his fairshare of success in Asia and has lifted two titles in Australia and one league title in Japan. He also is known for his attacking brand of football.

Muscat is not the only man with a Wolves connection to be linked with the Millwall role and ex-defender Mark Kennedy is another name tipped for the vacancy.

Kennedy spent five years of his career at Wolves from 2001 to 2006 and racked up over 160 league appearances. His managerial journey so far has seen him manage Macclesfield for 12 matches during a time of huge financial crisis, while he was recently dismissed from his post as manager of Lincoln after leading them to an 11th place finish in League One last term.

Ex-Rangers boss Michael Beale and former Luton boss Nathan Jones are also on the radar for the vacant post, along with former Birmingham City boss John Eustace.

Eustace is reportedly keen to make a swift return to management after his dismissal from the Birmingham job earlier this month.

During his 15 month stay at St Andrews Stadium he is credited with guiding Birmingham to safety during a time of financial uncertainty and he enjoyed a strong start to the campaign this season which saw him get sacked with the club in sixth position.