BROMSGROVE -born Gary Rowett is back at Birmingham City FC as interim manager to help the club stay in the Championship.
The 50-year-old has come back to St Andrew’s until the end of the season while Tony Mowbray is on formal medical leave.
Rowett, who managed Blues between 2014 and 2016 and played for the club from 1998 to 2000, will take charge of the last eight Sky Bet Championship games in the 2023/24 campaign.
He is being joined by First Team Technical Coaches, Paul Robinson and Dave Carolan, both of whom share history with Birmingham City and worked with Rowett at Millwall.
Their first match will be against Queens Park Rangers at 3pm on Good Friday (March 29) before Preston North End visit St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park a week on Monday (April 1). That kick-off will also be at 3pm.
Blues are currently just out of the Championship relegation zone, only on goal difference, and the position is looking precarious.
When Rowett was sacked in 2016 by the club’s previous owners, Birmingham were seventh in the Championship and only three points off third place. He was replaced with Gianfranco Zola and received plenty of well-wishing messages from fans – many who felt he should not have been sacked.
The trio will be on the touchline for the trip to Queens Park Rangers on Friday 29 March, kick-off 3pm, before Preston North End visit St. Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park on Monday 1 April, kick-off 3pm, and the Interim is not prepared to leave anything to chance.
Speaking to BluesTV at the Birmingham City Elite Performance and Innovation Centre, Rowett talked about restoring a good feeling and succinctly explained what is required to achieve that.
“Everyone knows the history that I have with the Club. I have seen it as its very, very best. I have seen what it’s like to try and turn this situation around and how positive that can be for everyone connected to the Club. Part of my motivation really was just to try and bring back some of that positivity.
“It is very, very simple, just to win some games of football and make sure no stone is left unturned in what we need to do and try to turn this team around and show what I think they are capable of.
“There are very few clubs and very few fanbases I would have come back to do this for, but Birmingham City is certainly one of those.”
Click below to watch Rowett’s first Blues interview since his return.
