Major Bristol City update as Birmingham City, Millwall and Luton Town figures on shortlist

Bristol City are reported to have three preferred candidates in mind to replace Nigel Pearson as they aim for a swift appointment.

Pearson was relieved of his duties on Sunday afternoon, bringing to an end his 32-month reign of the Robins. City chairman Jon Lansdown said ‘recent results’ meant that it was the ‘time to make a change’ and give them the ‘best possible chance of success’ was the reason for the change.

Saturday’s defeat to Severnside rivals Cardiff City left the club 16th in the Championship with 14 games played, however they are just five points off of the play-offs.

In a major development, Sky Sports reporter Rob Dorsett has provided a key update by claiming that the boaard have three preferred candidates in mind as they draw up a shortlist.

He said in a tweet: “John Eustace, Gary Rowett and Nathan Jones are top of#BristolCity list of candidates to replace Nigel Pearson, I’ve been told.

“City’s bosses want to move quickly, and already have a shortlist, with those 3 out-of-work managers top of those they want to talk to.#bcfc #millwall.”

All three managers are out of work and would save Bristol City from having to pay compensation. Eustace and Rowett both left their clubs within the last month with the former sacked and the latter deciding to leave himself.

Eustace was sacked by Birmingham City this month and replaced by Wayne Rooney. Birmingham was just the second permanent job of his managerial career having managed Kidderminster Harriers from 2016 to 2018. He oversaw 63 games in charge of Blues and won 2-0 against Bristol City at Ashton Gate at the back end of August.

The 43-year-old has had experience in working with Mark Sykes whilst working as an assistant for the Republic of Ireland national team and also coached centre-back Rob Dickie and forward Nahki Wells during his time at QPR.

Out of the three preferred candidates, Nathan Jones has been out of work the longest. He was sacked by Southampton back in February after just 14 games. He won five of his 14 matches in charge, however most of those victories came in the Carabao Cup and he was sacked in February.

Jones has already worked with Harry Cornick and Kal Naismith during the trio’s time together at Luton Town. He was successful at Kenilworth Road winning promotion from League Two and put the foundations in place which got the Hatters into the Premier League.

Gary Rowett meanwhile was the second longest serving manager in the Championship before his departure bumped Nige up the table, but now all that has changed. Rowett had been in charge of Millwall for almost four years during his time there, he guided the club to four top-half finishes and narrowly missed out on the play-offs twice.

The 49-year-old has been in management for 11-years and has mainly managed in the Championship for the 532 games he's taken charge of. He was at Birmingham City for 106 games before being harshly sacked and then after a year at Derby County he had a failed spell at Stoke City like Nathan Jones did, before landing at Millwall.

Rowett during his time at Derby County worked with club captain Andi Weimann. The 32-year-old got six assists and five goals in 43 games during their time together.