Gary Rowett the favourite to replace sacked Lee Clark at Birmingham City

Birmingham have won just two of their 12 league games so far
Birmingham have won just two of their 12 league games so far
OWEN HUMPHREYS/PA

Gary Rowett, the Burton Albion manager, has emerged as the front-runner to become Birmingham City’s new manager after Lee Clark was sacked today, just four hours after insisting he would not walk away from the club.

Clark was informed of the decision by Panos Pavlakis, the Birmingham executive director, at around 1pm having already completed his pre-match media obligations ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Blackburn Rovers.

“I am not walking away, no chance,” Clark had said. “This is a big club. I am proud to be the manager.”

With Birmingham’s hierarchy based in Hong Kong, time zone differences have been blamed for the failure to deliver the news earlier with Pavlakis, in the absence of the owner, Carson Yeung, who is in jail serving a