This article is part of Football League World's 'The Verdict' series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Birmingham City are to part company with Pep Clotet at the end of the 2019/20 season, the club have confirmed via their official club website.

Clotet arrived at St. Andrew's with Garry Monk in 2018, becoming Monk's assistant and helping Blues avoid relegation to League One in 2017/18.

Monk parted company with Blues at the end of last season, however Clotet remained, becoming Blues' head coach ahead of the 2019/20 campaign.

This season, the 43-year-old has guided Birmingham to 16th position in the Sky Bet Championship table, with Blues securing their place in the Championship for another year.

But the club have announced that Clotet will be leaving the club at the end of the season to "explore other coaching opportunities", bringing an end to a two-and-a-half year spell at St. Andrew's.

Blues will be hopeful of ending the season on a high under Clotet, then, but the club will now be identifying potential replacements for the Spaniard as they prepare for next season.

Here, the FLW team discuss who should replace Clotet at St. Andrew's...

Jacob Potter

The obvious name on everyone's lips is going to be Chris Hughton, who has already shown that he's an excellent manager in the Championship.

But I have my doubts as to whether he would want to come to a club like Birmingham, who have struggled in the second tier in recent seasons.

Someone like Nigel Adkins is also worth considering, as he dealt well in difficult circumstances whilst with Hull City last season, so he would be my second choice.

Mark Hughes is another manager that is likely to be linked to the job with the Blues, but the club need to make sure they get this next appointment right, otherwise they'll continue to struggle in the Championship for years to come.

George Dagless

If they could get Chris Hughton it'd be masterful.

Blues fans want to see a top manager come in and get them up the league and Hughton would be exactly that.

He has experience of winning promotion from the Championship and keeping sides in the Premier League, and he'd be a real fan favourite from the get go.

Will he want to work under the Blues' chaotic-at-times ownership, though? That is the real question.

Top managers want to work under good owners, and I think there could be a sticking point for them here.

Can you get full marks on this Birmingham City higher or lower quiz?

 

George Harbey

There are plenty of options Birmingham could explore when they look to eventually replace Clotet.

Chris Hughton is likely to be a popular shout amongst Blues fans as he's enjoyed a positive spell at St. Andrew's in the past, and has the experience of winning promotion from the Premier League with Brighton.

Lee Bowyer would be a real coup. I'd be interested to see if they could go out and get him. He has done a fantastic job at Charlton when you consider the chaos off the pitch, and if they go down, that could be the end of his time at the Valley and push him over the edge, especially with everything that is going on with Lyle Taylor.

He played for Birmingham and is popular amongst fans and it could be a masterstroke if they went out and got him.

Ned Holmes

This is an interesting one for the Blues but the most important thing now is that they give themselves some time to make the right decision.

If Charlton go down, I'd love to see them move for Lee Bowyer. He's done a fantastic job at the Valley, while mitigating almost constant off the field issues.

I think he could do a fantastic job at Birmingham and he'd likely be open to the move if the Addicks are relegated this term.

However, it seems as though the club are keen on someone with a bit of promotion experience and if they can get him, Chris Hughton could be a fantastic appointment.

In my eyes, he's a top coach and someone that could help take the Blues to the next level.