Birmingham City have officially appointed Steve Cotterill as their new manager, having signed a two-and-a-half year deal.
The former Bristol City boss has arrived to replaced Harry Redknapp, who was sacked after six consecutive defeats in charge of the Blues.
But it seems Birmingham actually had another name on top of the list, which is what two of Spain’s biggest outlets are reporting.
They claim that the club first tried to sign Aitor Karanka, who’s currently unemployed. But just like the manager had done with Alavés a week ago, he turned the offer down.
Marca claims that Karanka listened to the offer with attention, and it even sounded attractive. The problem is that he thought it was too risky due to the club’s current situation in the Championship.
Meanwhile, AS says the Birmingham City project ‘wasn’t what he wanted’, and the Spaniard ‘doesn’t want to rush’ when picking his next job.
Karanka has only had one job as a manager, which was at Middlesbrough. He took charge of the club in 2013, and even managed to get promotion to the Premier League.
But the Premiership experience didn’t go well for him, as he ended up out of the job towards the end of last season, leaving the club in the relegation zone.
