FC Groningen boss Danny Buijs has emerged as a contender to replace Pep Clotet as head coach of Birmingham City, according to the Daily Mail.

The club announced over two weeks ago that Clotet would be leaving St. Andrew's at the end of the season, in order to "explore other coaching opportunities".

The 43-year-old has spent one season at the helm of Blues following Garry Monk's departure in the summer, but they will now be on the lookout for a replacement ahead of next season.

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The likes of Lee Bowyer, Nigel Clough and Chris Hughton have all been linked with the soon-to-be vacant managerial role, but a rather unknown name has now been thrown into the mix.

The Daily Mail claim that FC Groningen boss Danny Buijs has emerged as a contender to replace Clotet, after catching the eye following a positive tenure of Groningen.

The 38-year-old, who endured spells with the likes of Kilmarnock, Feyenoord and Sparta Rotterdam as a player, took charge of Groningen in May 2018.

Since then, Buijs has won 25 out of 65 games in charge, with Groningen finishing 9th in the Eredivisie table and pushing for the Europa League places before the season was cancelled.#

Buijs also took charge of Kozakken Boys between 2016 and 2018, winning an impressive 39 out of 72 games.

The Verdict

Buijs is a rather surprising name and it would be a very interesting appointment for sure.

He's only 38, but he has seemed to adjust to life in management really well indeed, guiding a big club like Groningen to a positive league position where they were pushing for Europe.

The Championship is such a tough league to crack, though, and like Clotet, Buijs is only young and quite inexperienced, whereas I feel that they need a more experienced man in charge.