Birmingham City have confirmed the departure of assistant head coach Mark Kennedy.

It comes after the former Republic of Ireland international footballer was reported by The Athletic to be the number one target for League One outfit Lincoln City to replace Michael Appleton as manager of the Imps.

Kennedy has only been at the Blues for one season, arriving in June 2021 to be the right-hand man to Lee Bowyer, having played with the former midfielder in his later playing days at Ipswich Town.

The 45-year-old has little in the way of senior managerial experience, with his only stint coming with Macclesfield Town, where he was appointed in January 2020 and stayed there until the club's relegation to the National League.

Kennedy was the head coach of Ipswich Town's under-21's team from 2012 until 2016 before he departed to take up a job at Manchester City's academy, and following that he worked with Wolves' under-23's.

Now it looks like Kennedy is set to take up his second senior managerial role within the EFL as Lincoln look to make him their next boss.

The Verdict

Despite the reports of Michael Carrick being in talks at Sincil Bank to become Lincoln's new boss, it appears that they've honed in on Kennedy to be their next manager.

Even though he lacks experience of being the front man of a managerial team in senior football, Kennedy's track record of coaching younger players is probably a big factor in Lincoln's pursuit.

The Imps have a number of good young talents on their books and they clearly believe that Kennedy is the man to get the best out of them.

It does leave Lee Bowyer without an assistant though if he is to remain at the club - but Kennedy clearly could not pass this opportunity up.