Birmingham Live reporter Brian Dick has revealed that the Blues are expected to confirm the departure of manager Aitor Karanka today and also potentially announce his replacement.

There have been various reports over the weekend that Karanka has left the club after the Blues’ 3-0 defeat at home against Bristol City on Saturday left them in real trouble at the bottom of the Championship. There have also been reports that they are hoping to secure the appointment of a new manager before their meeting with Reading on Wednesday.

There have been reports that former Reading manager Mark Bowen is interested in taking over as the Blues’ manager until the end of the campaign with a view to a more permanent move in the summer. Whilst there have also been reports that Tony Pulis is amongst those in the running to replace Karanka as well.

The latest report from Dick confirms that the Blues should be set to announce Karanka’s departure officially today and he revealed he was unsure over why there has been a delay in the confirmation. While he also outlined that Birmingham could even announce a successor to the Spaniard as well later on today, but there is as of yet no word on who that will be.

The verdict

This is a major update and suggests that the Blues should be bracing themselves for a fairly imminent appointment of their next permanent manager. It is surprising that the club have left it so late on to announce the departure of karanka when pretty much all outlets have been reporting that it has been sorted out now.

Whoever comes into the club is facing a major battle to try and keep the club in the Championship. That is why you feel they are right to move swiftly in appointing a new boss to give them as much time as possible to save them. It is going to be a very difficult challenge so it will be interesting to see who they offer the job to.

The fact this has all been done in this way suggests that the Blues do have someone lined up and have been waiting to confirm that before announcing Karanka’s departure. But it remains to be seen if that indeed has been the case.