Next Birmingham Manager Odds: The big favourite to replace Wayne Rooney revealed

There is a clear frontrunner with the bookmakers in the race to replace Wayne Rooney as Birmingham City manager

Wayne Rooney was sacked at Birmingham City after just 13 games (

Image: PA)

The bookmakers are in no doubt as to the likeliest replacement for Wayne Rooney, who was shown the St Andrew’s door this morning after winning just two of his 15 matches in charge.

Manchester United’s record goalscorer was brought in to replace John Eustace just 83 days ago, with the club sitting in the playoff positions in the Championship.

Fast forward less than three months and the end has swiftly arrived for Rooney - who previously had spells in charge of Derby County and MLS side DC United.

The final straw was Birmingham’s 3-0 defeat at Leeds on New Year's Day, which rounded off a run of nine matches yielding just six points. The Blues are now 20th in the Championship, just six points clear of the relegation zone.

Click here for the latest next Birmingham manager odds market.

Who is the favourite to be the next Birmingham manager?

Steve Cooper is the bookmakers’ favourite to replace Wayne Rooney in the next Birmingham manager odds market at a best price of 7/4 on William Hill (implied 36% chance).

Cooper has been out of work for less than two weeks since being sacked by Nottingham Forest. He left the East Midlands club 17th in the Premier League table after a run of five defeats from six matches.

Nuno Espirito Santo has subsequently steadied the ship at the City Ground, picking up two wins from his first three matches to lift Forest to 15th – five points clear of safety.

Cooper spent more than two years in charge of Forest, taking the club from bottom of the Championship in September 2021 to the big time via a playoff win over Huddersfield at Wembley. They finished 16th in their first season back in the Premier League.

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An early rival for Cooper in the latest betting market is former Leeds boss Jesse Marsch (8/1), who has been out of work since leaving the Elland Road club in February 2023.

Marsch oversaw Leeds’ miraculous final day survival at Brentford in May 2022 and started the 2022/23 season strongly, but left with the club in 17th place.

At the time of writing, other managers given a greater than 10% chance of replacing Rooney as Birmingham manager include Tony Mowbray and Gary Rowett.

Mowbray (4/1) was shown the door by Sunderland in December just a few months on from losing in the Championship playoffs after a run of just two wins from nine matches.

The appointment of Rooney in October immediately brought back memories of Birmingham's treatment of Gary Rowett, who was sacked by the club in December 2016 to make room for a bigger name in Gianfranco Zola.

Rowett, who left Millwall in October, is 4/1 on Sky Bet (5/1 on William Hill) to make a surprise return to St Andrew's seven years later.