Former Blackpool, Derby County and Chesterfield figure lands Championship manager's job

Former Blackpool midfielder Steve Spooner is to take up the reigns at Birmingham City. The 62-year-old has been appointed interim manager of the Championship club after they sacked Wayne Rooney after just 15 games.

Birmingham are 20th in the league and after just two wins since his appointment, they've decided to end his contract just 83 days into his three-year deal. One former Blackpool forward Keshi Anderson who departed the Seasiders for Birmingham this summer has been affected. He played just a handful of games under Rooney after spending most of his tenure injured and will now have to impress a third permanent manager of the 2023/24 campaign.

In a 19-year playing career that began at Derby County he featured mainly for Chesterfield, but could also count Halifax Town, Hereford United, York City, Rotherham United and Mansfield Town as his former clubs. The highlight of his playing career would have been winning promotion with Chesterfield in 1985.

Spooner's time at Bloomfield Road was brief, and he made two league appearances in 1993 after joining from Mansfield Town. He later returned to Chesterfield for a second spell that year, before winding down his career with Rushden & Diamonds and later Burton Albion.

Since retiring, he has held various coaching roles, and has already managed Birmingham City on a caretaker basis in 2020. He was their under-18's boss and later became their Professional Development Coach, and will now be entrusted to manage the Midlands club whilst they seek a successor.

Birmingham City have an away tie against their Championship rivals Hull City in the third round of the FA Cup. The manager search begins with 'immediate' effect but currently Spooner is set to be in the dugout for that clash.

Former Blackpool loan midfielder Gary Rowett has been suggested as a potential contender to replace Rooney by the Daily Mirror. Rowett has been out of work since leaving Millwall in October. He has already managed Blues before and with similar parallels to John Eustace's sacking, he was relieved of his duties and replaced by Gianfranco Zola, which like Rooney did not end up working out.