Birmingham interested in highly-rated Canada boss John Herdman to take over after guiding country to World Cup
BIRMINGHAM CITY are keeping tabs on impressive Canada boss John Herdman.
England-born Herdman has guided the Maple Leafs to their second World Cup finals in December – and first since 1986.
Championship City are in limbo with ongoing speculation about a takeover.
And that has in turn increased uncertainty about the future of current boss Lee Bowyer.
Birmingham finished 20th in the Championship this season and Bowyer plans talks with the club’s Chinese owners about plans going forward this summer.
Herdman has already attracted interest from Burnley and Blackburn Rovers.
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Sean Dyche was sacked in April with Mike Jackson taking interim charge for the Clarets until the end of the season.
At rivals Rovers, Tony Mowbray left his post after five years in the Ewood Park hotseat.
Herdman is committed to Canada but it’s believed he is also eager to take a higher profile club job in England if the right move comes along.
The 46-year-old is from County Durham and started coaching while still a part-time university lecturer.
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He took on a role with Sunderland’s academy in 2001 before moving to New Zealand where he joined the national association.
The Englishman led New Zealand’s women’s team at the 2007 and 2011 World Cups as well as the 2008 Olympics before taking over as Canada women’s boss in 2011.
Seven years later, he switched to the Canada men’s team and took them from 72nd in the Fifa rankings to a national-high 40th.
That was helped by their qualification for Qatar 2022 where the likes of Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David will take on Belgium, Croatia and Morocco in a brutal Group F.
