Birmingham City opinion: Should the Blues appoint Chris Hughton?
Birmingham City parted ways with manager Garry Monk after just 15 months in charge.
The statement from the blues said that the board of directors believe that the decision was made with the long-term future of the club in mind and Monk was deemed incapable of helping the club return to the top-flight.
The Blues will now need to fill in the void left by monk and the Stoke Sentinel have revealed the names in the frame to take in charge of the club are Gus Poyet, Nigel Adkins, Aitor Karanka and Barnsley’s Daniel Stendel.
However, the biggest name revealed by the report is Chris Hughton. The former Birmingham City boss parted ways with Brighton after a disappointing second half to the season but that should have no bearing over his ability as a manager.
Hughton revolutionised the Seagulls and helped them achieve promotion to the Premier League. The former Norwich boss even lead the Seagulls to safety twice despite a horrendous collapse since the turn of the year.
Brighton are now in good hands with the appointment of Graham Potter but the sacking of Hughton did come in as a massive shock. However, with Hughton very much available, Birmingham shouldn’t think twice over appointing him for next season.
Hughton knows the Blues very well, having managed them for 62 games between 2010 and 2011. The Irishman lost just 15 of his 62 games for the Blues before leaving them for Norwich, where he had a decent spell as manager as well.
The Blues finished 17th in the Championship and their defensive organisation was all over the place. Birmingham conceded 58 goals in the Championship, which doesn’t look too bad considering they played 46 games but a lot of those could have easily been avoided.
Birmingham’s defence will certainly be a lot more organised with the appointment of Chris Hughton and that is exactly what the Blues need to do to return to the Premier League after spending 8 years down in the Championship.
Conclusion
Birmingham City will not find a better manager to achieve their ambitions than Chris Hughton in the summer. The Irishman has a proven record in helping a club achieve promotion to the Premier League and the Blues could not possibly as for more next season.