Former Premier League manager favourite to replace Wayne Rooney at Birmingham after sacking

Former Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper is the current favourite to replace Wayne Rooney as manager of Birmingham City, with the Championship club set to announce the England legend's sacking.

Rooney lost 13 of his 15 games in charge of the Blues after controversially replacing John Eustace earlier in the campaign.

The final of those games was an insipid 3-0 loss at Leeds on New Year's Day, during which Birmingham fans chanted for the Manchester United legend to leave the club.

Birmingham dropped from the play-off places to 20th position under Rooney's stewardship, and are seven points above the relegation places.

The Daily Mirror have confirmed that the Blues are now on the search for their third manager of the season, with confirmation to arrive later this morning.

The club's new American ownership invested heavily in the playing squad during the summer transfer window, spending big money on the likes of Siriki Dembele, Ethan Laird and Dion Sanderson.

And according to bookmaker comparison site Gambling.com, former Forest boss Cooper is the 2/1 favourite to replace Rooney at St Andrew's following his departure from the City Ground last month.

Cooper guided Forest to the Premier League via the play-offs in 2022, having taken over with the club in the relegation zone.

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The second favourite for the job is Reims boss Will Still, who reportedly held positive talks with Sunderland over replacing Tony Mowbray last month.

However, he decided against taking up the role, and ex-Rangers boss Michael Beale was appointed instead.

Former Leeds boss Jesse Marsch is priced at 3/1, while Eustace is at 4/1 for what would be a somewhat surprising return to St Andrew's.

However, Eustace is still under contract with Birmingham, which is generally the norm with departing managers as the former club continues to pay part or all of their salary. It is unclear, though, whether this is the case with Eustace.

And England U21 head coach Lee Carsley, who spent two years with the Blues as a player, is available at odds of 5/1.

The remainder of the odds are as follows:

• Paul Heckingbottom (Unemployed) - 5/1
• Nathan Jones (Unemployed) - 6/1
• Tony Mowbray (Unemployed) - 8/1
• Alex Neil (Unemployed) - 12/1
• Gary Rowett (Unemployed) - 15/1
• Neil Warnock (Unemployed) - 20/1