Birmingham City sack manager Lee Bowyer to add further fuel to takeover claims

Lee Bowyer has been relieved of his duties as Birmingham City's boss.

The club's chief was informed his 16-month reign at St Andrew's had come to an end after training on Saturday morning.

Bowyer was told the news after giving his final session, and then the first-team were called into an impromptu meeting and told that a change is imminent. The Blues finished one place above the relegation zone last season - finishing the campaign in 20th.

But there can be no doubt the manager experienced difficulties in the job. And he did save the club from relegation following Aitor Karanka's disastrous tenure during the 2020-21 campaign.

Last term, the club profited from points deductions suffered by Derby County and would have faced a far more difficult fight for survival had the Rams not been penalised by 21 points for a string of financial misdemeanours.

Bowyer's sacking will invoke inevitable speculation about who made the decision as the owners are selling the club.

The Chinese had refused to make any decision while the sale process was on-going - fuelling rumours that the deal, fronted by Laurence Bassini, is inching towards finalisation.

Bowyer's departure is likely to see the recruitment of former QPR assistant John Eustace who was tipped to be Mark Warburton's assistant before the latter accepted an offer to be No. 2 to David Moyes at West Ham last week.