Craig Gardner is set to join Sheffield Wednesday following his departure from Birmingham City, a report from Birmingham Live has claimed.

The former midfielder took up a player-coach role with the Blues season, and moved into coaching full-time following his retirement from playing part way through last season.

It was announced earlier on Monday that Gardner had left his coaching role with Birmingham, although it seems as though the 33-year-old will not be without a club for long.

According to the latest reports, Gardner is now set to join the coaching staff of newly-appointed Sheffield Wednesday manager Tony Pulis, who was announced as the Owls' replacement for Garry Monk last week.

Pulis and Gardner are no strangers to each either, with Gardner having previously played under Pulis' management during the pair's time together at West Brom.

Gardner is set to join Wednesday with the club second from bottom of the Championship table, following their six points deduction earlier this season.

Prior to his retirement from playing, Gardner had made 125 appearances in all competitions for Birmingham across two spells with the club, scoring 16 goals in that time.

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The Verdict

This could be a decent piece of recruitment behind the scenes by Pulis and Wednesday.

Given he only recently retired from playing, Gardner ought to still be up to speed with the current nature and attitude of those competing in the Championship, and could therefore be a useful link between Pulis and his new squad.

The fact that they have worked together before also ought to help both parties, since they are not having to build a relationship from scratch when they first start working together.

Indeed, given the fact that Gardner is a boyhood Birmingham fan, the fact that Pulis has been able to convince the 33-year-old to join at Wednesday, does seem to highlight the appeal that working for the new Wednesday boss appears to hold.