Clark in at Birmingham and Howe's in the top half

Last updated : 27 June 2012 By Tony Scholes
Eddie Howe, 12th longest serving manager

The Birmingham fans must have gone through a period of panic when such names as Paul Ince were linked with the job but it was Clark they finally turned to and he's already appointed former Liverpool and Newcastle midfielder Terry McDermott as his number two.

McDermott worked with Clark at Huddersfield along with ex-Blackburn defender Derek Fazackerly who is also expected to move to St. Andrew's.

He'd been with Huddersfield from December 2008, when he replaced former Burnley manager Stan Ternent, until he was surprisingly dismissed in February of this year. During his time at the Galpharm he led Huddersfield to a run of 43 league games without defeat, a run only ever bettered once in league football by Nottingham Forest in the 1970s.

Clark was twice linked with the Burnley job, firstly in January 2010 and again a year later, although it was later confirmed that the target the second time was Steve Clarke, now in charge at West Brom.

Clark's appointment means all the Championship clubs now have a manager with only Premier League Tottenham and League Two club Gillingham searching for new bosses.

The list of managers in the Championship shows just how often clubs do make changes. Eddie Howe, appointed at Burnley in January of last year is now in the top half of those 24 managers (he's 39th overall of the 92 clubs) and only five have been in charge for over two years.

And who knows, there could still be more changes before the big kick off. Speculation continues to suggest that Gianfranco Zola will replace Sean Dyche at Watford.

The Championship managers ahead of the 2012/13 season are (in order of length of service)

Kenny Jackett (Millwall) - 6th November 2007
Nigel Clough (Derby) - 6th January 2009
Ian Holloway (Blackpool) - 21st May 2009
Gus Poyet (Brighton) - 10th November 2009
Owen Coyle (Bolton) - 8th January 2010
Tony Mowbray (Middlesbrough) - 26th October 2010
Steve Kean (Blackburn) - 13th December 2010
Dougie Freedman (Crystal Palace) - 1st January 2011
Paul Jewell (Ipswich) - 10th January 2011
Darren Ferguson (Peterborough) - 12th January 2011
Chris Powell (Charlton) - 14th January 2011
Eddie Howe (Burnley) - 16th January 2011
Keith Hill (Barnsley) - 1st June 2011
Malky Mackay (Cardiff) - 17th June 2011
Sean Dyche (Watford) - 21st June 2011
Steve Cotterill (Nottingham Forest) - 17th October 2011
Derek McInnes (Bristol City) - 21st October 2011
Nigel Pearson (Leicester) - 15th November 2011
Neil Warnock (Leeds) - 18th February 2012
Simon Grayson (Huddersfield) - 20th February 2012
Dave Jones (Sheffield Wednesday) - 2nd March 2012
Steve Bruce (Hull) - 8th June 2012
Lee Clark (Birmingham) - 26th June 2012
Ståle Solbakken (Wolves) - 1st July 2012