Wayne Rooney’s exit was met with RELIEF by some Birmingham City players… who would welcome back former manager John Eustace at St Andrew’s

• Wayne Rooney was sacked after winning just two of his 15 matches in charge
• John Eustace would be open to resuming the role that he lost back in October 
• Mail Sport’s Chief Football Reporter Sami Mokbel gives the transfer latest on Ivan Toney, Conor Gallagher and more on It’s All Kicking Off

Wayne Rooney’s departure from Birmingham has been met with relief by a group of senior players who would welcome former boss John Eustace back to the club.

Eustace would be open to resuming the role he lost in October to make way for Rooney, yet that would require a huge climbdown from US owners Knighthead, who include NFL great Tom Brady.

CEO Garry Cook and technical director Craig Gardner are thought to have a longlist of up to 20 contenders, with Nathan Jones and Tony Mowbray believed to be among them.

Jones worked wonders during two spells at Luton but struggled during his last job — three months at Southampton in the Premier League last season. Mowbray, meanwhile, is proven at Championship level and was surprisingly sacked by Sunderland last month.

Frank Lampard is available and is sure to be of interest. He led Derby to the play-off final in 2019, but it is unclear whether the former Chelsea and England midfielder would want to resume his management career in the bottom five of the Championship.

The same is true of former Blues midfielder Lee Carsley, who led England Under 21s to European Championship glory last summer and is highly regarded within the FA.

Ashley Cole and John O’Shea remain with Blues along with Pete Shuttleworth though it is unclear whether they would continue under a new regime. 

Cole is part of Carsley’s staff with England Under 21s and worked with Lampard at Chelsea and Everton.

Knighthead replaced Eustace with Rooney in October promising a bold attacking style — but Blues sank from the play-off places to 20th during Rooney’s 83-day tenure.

Mail Sport revealed on Monday that when he took the job, Rooney believed he would be given at least one transfer window and had lined up reinforcements for this month. Though 10 points from 15 games was relegation form, he was shocked to be shown the door so early.