Gianfranco Zola was fighting a losing battle as soon as he was announced as the new Birmingham City manager.
The pressure is growing on Birmingham City manager Gianfranco Zola
Gianfranco Zola’s appointment at Birmingham City came just six hours after the St Andrews club had relieved Gary Rowett of his duties back in December.
Rowett left the club in seventh position and his sacking was met with a mixture of surprise and confusion. The justification for Rowett’s dismissal from Blues’ director Pavos Pavlakis cited the club’s ambition to “move in a different direction.”
Their former manager has still yet to take up another management position but he earned a number of plaudits for the job he had done at St Andrews. Many believe that guiding his side to a top half finish in the Championship went well beyond expectations.
And how they’ve struggled since. The West Midlands club have endured a torrid run of form under Zola’s tenure. With just two wins picked up in 17 attempts, the supporters are now beginning to lose their patience and tensions are high both on and off the pitch. The Blues were greeted with a chorus of boos after their 1-0 defeat at home to relegation threatened Wigan Athletic.
This has seen the Blues drop down to 17th in the table under the Italian and supporters believe that their side are heading towards a relegation battle. They are currently seven points ahead of Bristol City who occupy the last relegation place.
Che Adams and Birmingham City did not pose much of an attacking threat against Wigan.
Birmingham were taken over by Trillion Trophy Asia Limited (TTAL) in October and were keen for Birmingham to appoint a manager who would play a more entertaining brand of football. However, what Zola’s appointment has highlighted is Rowett’s tactical nous and his overachievements with the team over the previous two seasons.
Zola can not be blamed for wanting to manage Birmingham City. When he took over, the side were one place outside the play-offs and with new investment being injected into the club, there was a real opportunity for Birmingham to take the next step.
The board of directors misjudged the situation and ultimately made the wrong decision in appointing Zola. By accepting the job, he unknowingly took the risk of becoming the fall guy for their shortcomings.
To avoid being the manager that took a team from 7th to relegation, it may be best for Zola to put this one down as a harsh lesson and to hand in his resignation before frustrations boil over and tempers reach breaking point.
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