BRUM IS BLUE!

Blues confirmed the departure of Craig Gardner last week as the club look to create improved change ahead of the 2026/27 Campaign and naturally there were a few fans that raised eyebrows at the decision for Gardner to go before Davies.

Personally I’m not here to say either men should or shouldn’t go, the official line is that Gardner made the decision but there is speculation it could well have been more of an influenced decision than one made entirely independent of the clubs hierarchy but ultimately only Craig will know. It’s kind of weird the world we live in now because the Director of Football does seem to be as visible in the media as the likes of the players or the manager nowadays and so this departure would make news even if it wasn’t someone who has played such a significant role in the club at all degrees of role.

Gardner was part of the Carling Cup winning team, way back in 2011, and has since taken on coaching roles and this director role over the 15 years since then. He has a lot of favour with fans (Despite a potentially chequered past playing for the mob across the expressway) and will certainly be a face that is missed as he has been a constant at the club and being both a fan and local lad has a real connection to the club.

The official announcement says that Craig informed the club a number of weeks ago and that succession process is already underway but as of yet there seems to be very little noise speculating who could be coming in. This does suggest that the DoF role hasn’t yet made it to the level that creates a media frenzy in the same way that a Manager/Head Coach change would but I think in the coming years this will no doubt change so I’m going to look at it more now.

We have three names that I’ve seen shortlisted for the role and one of them is a name that is quite known to me through listening to TalkSport more than anything. That name is Dan Ashworth and he has been linked via Birmingham Mail. Ashworth has previously held Sporting Director roles at both Newcastle and Manchester United, in fact the reason I have heard of him at all is because of the furore surrounding the focus that United gave Ashworth and the way they went after getting him appointed.

Ashworth was given credit for the role he played as Technical Director at Brighton & Hove Albion (Although since then I think most football fans would look to Tony Bloom as being far instrumental in their success and indeed Hearts success) and also Newcastle’s good fortunes following their takeover by PIF Investments but things seemed to sour at United and Ashworth is currently the Chief Football Officer for the FA which makes me think this speculation could be a little wide of the mark.

The second name is one that I haven’t heard much about in general and that is Kristjaan Speakman who was formerly at the club under the old regime working with the academy at the time. The academy will be a big focus going forward with the club eager to begin producing serious talent once again and Speakman was involved with the academy when the likes of the Bellingham’s, Jordan James, Demari Gray and Nathan Redmond came through so this along with his success at Sunderland will no doubt be a huge tick against his name for the owners.

Speakman joined Sunderland in 2020 when the club were in League One with them finishing 7^th in the Premier League this season. In essence this will be more weight to his rankings and if Blues can secure his services again it will be interesting to see fan reactions given his previous closeness with Ren Dong!

Finally the last name I have seen linked is someone already at the club, which in itself potentially makes it even easier. Mike Rigg joined the club when former CEO Garry Cook joined the club. Rigg is currently the Academy Technical Director but was highly involved in bringing in star studded signings during the time of the Man City takeover when he was the Director of Football working alongside Manchini.

The allure is also there to promote from within as this seems to be a model that has succeeded in recent years with the likes of Brentford and Brighton who both promoted internally and saw huge success off the back of it.

All in all Blues are well underway it sounds like and with Promotion the aim next season it will be a one of the bigger decisions this summer.