How Tony Mowbray’s absence could affect Birmingham – and who will replace him

The Birmingham City manager is seeking medical treatment for an ailment, as both he and the club made comments on Monday.
Birmingham City’s season has been shaken once more, this time by the announcement that Tony Mowbray has temporarily stepped down as manager.

Mowbray will be out “for a period of approximately six to eight weeks” to seek medical treatment, according to the club.

The particular cause of the 60-year-old’s ailment has not been divulged, but Birmingham have announced that his assistant Mark Venus will take up the post, with Mowbray able to continue to provide assistance and advice from a distance.

“Undergoing treatment will necessitate that I temporarily step away from the technical area,” Mowbray stated. “I will continue to offer advise and counsel while in treatment. The club has been really supportive of me and my family, and we are appreciative. I am confident that everyone will respect our privacy at this time.
Mowbray only joined Birmingham in January and has led the team up the Championship table, winning 10 points out of a possible 18 to steady the ship at St Andrew’s following Wayne Rooney’s catastrophic 15-game stay, during which he achieved only two wins.

With this newest development, Birmingham will have had at least four different presences on the touchline in the same season. John Eustace led the campaign until his controversial replacement by Rooney in October.

Mowbray, who led Sunderland to the Championship play-offs last season, is well-regarded at that level and was viewed as a guiding hand on the tiller. Birmingham are still in danger of relegation, sitting 15th and six points ahead of QPR, who now occupy the third relegation place.

Who is Mark Venus?
Venus has been working closely with Mowbray for two decades. Venus, a dynamic left-sided defender who began his career with Hartlepool in 1985 and retired from Hibernian in 2004, joined Mowbray’s coaching staff at the Scottish club.

He subsequently followed the manager, a former Ipswich teammate from the late 1990s, to West Brom in 2006, and went on to serve as Mowbray’s No. 2 at Celtic, Middlesbrough, Blackburn, and Sunderland. From 2015 to 2016, he also served as Coventry’s technical director under Mowbray.

Following Mowbray’s arrival at Birmingham in January, he brought Venus with him as his trusted assistant, having left Sunderland a month prior.

While Venus will be assisted by coaches Ashley Cole, Pete Shuttleworth, and Maik Taylor, there is concern that additional uncertainty surrounding the Blues will pull them back into difficulty. Shelby Companies, an American consortium that includes NFL legend Tom Brady and has a controlling stake in the club, will be hesitant to make another permanent change in the dugout after deciding Mowbray is the best man to lead them ahead.

Birmingham’s future fixtures appear to be challenging. Their next game is away to promotion hopefuls Ipswich on Saturday, followed by a home match against high-flying Southampton. If Mowbray is absent for six weeks, he might return at home against Coventry on April 13 or away at Rotherham on April 20, leaving Birmingham with only two games remaining in the season.