Hearts comfortably beat East Fife 7-0, Kingsley hat trick. Looking forward to the season ???

Birmingham City have re-signed Wolves defender Dion Sanderson on a season-long loan.

The 22-year-old returns to Blues after making 16 appearances while on loan for the first half of the 2021-22 campaign.

He was subsequently loaned to Championship rivals QPR, where he played a further 12 games.

"I know a lot of people here and I would like to think they are happy to see me," said Sanderson, the first signing for new boss John Eustace.

Sanderson's only senior appearance for Wolves to date came in a 2-1 Carabao Cup defeat by Aston Villa in October 2019.

Later that season he was sent on loan to Cardiff City, and had a spell with Sunderland in 2020-21.

Birmingham midfielder Ivan Sunjic has agreed to join German Bundesliga club Hertha Berlin, also on a season-long loan.

The 25-year-old Croat scored three goals in 44 appearances last season.

Meanwhile, former Cheltenham and England Under-19 boss Keith Downing, 56, and ex-QPR coach Matt Gardiner, 48, have been named as Eustace's assistants.

Maik Taylor, who played almost 250 games for Blues and won 88 caps for Northern Ireland, returns to St Andrew's from Walsall as goalkeeping coach.

Sheffield United have signed midfielder Tommy Doyle on a season-long loan from Premier League champions Manchester City.

The 20-year-old, who has made seven first team appearances for City, spent time on loan at Hamburg and Cardiff City during last season.

Doyle is currently under contract with City until the end of 2025.

"I'm excited to be here, I'm ready and looking forward to starting the season," Doyle told the club's website.

"I got the phone call that Sheffield United was interested and it is hard to say no to a club like this.

"I'm looking forward to meeting everyone, I know one or two already, but I'm focused on getting down to work and preparing for the new season."

Good 2-1 win against Leyton orient !

Birmingham City have named Republic of Ireland assistant manager John Eustace as head coach on a three-year contract.

Eustace, who began in management at Kidderminster Harriers, has spent the past three seasons as Queens Park Rangers assistant boss, first under Steve McClaren, then Mark Warburton.

The former Coventry City, Stoke City, Watford and Derby County midfielder, 42, retired from playing in 2016.

He succeeds Lee Bowyer, who was sacked on Saturday after 16 months in charge.

"I am very proud to be here," said locally-born Eustace. "Obviously, I am a Birmingham lad and I know the potential of the club and how important it is to the fans.

"We have underachieved in the past few seasons and a club of this size, with the support that this club has, need to be aiming higher.

"The first thing we have to do is get this squad competitive and ready for that first game of the season against Luton."

Eustace will now take charge of Blues' pre-season trip to Portugal in the next week.

He will have just under four weeks to prepare for the season opener with Luton Town at St Andrew's on 30 July.

Eustace is the ninth manager City's owners Birmingham Sports Holdings Ltd have appointed since they took control of the club as Trillion Trophy Asia in October 2016.

"The appointment of John Eustace is merely the first of several pressing needs for Birmingham City with less than four weeks between now and their opening Championship game.

"They will hope to add to his coaching staff before the first-team squad head to a training camp in Portugal this week. Then there is the urgent matter of squad strengthening as Eustace inherits a group that is light on numbers, particularly at the defensive end of the field. They will likely head to the Algarve with no recognised senior left-back.

"And, above all, there is the continuing off-the-field drama with a partially closed stadium still awaiting the go-ahead for repairs to go ahead, and the uncertainty over the future ownership of the club.

"It may well be that the prospective new owners are firmly on board with the change from Lee Bowyer to Eustace ahead of the opening game at Luton. But until any deal to unseat Birmingham Sports Holdings is concluded it will hard for Blues supporters to gauge whether things are heading in the right direction at St Andrew's."

Derby County full-back Lee Buchanan is set to join German Bundesliga club Werder Bremen.

The 21-year old will complete the deal when he has passed a medical.

Bremen posted on social media that they had "reached agreement in principle" with Derby and Buchanan attended a training camp in Zillertal on Sunday.

He came through the Derby youth system and made 31 appearances last season as they were relegated from the Championship under Wayne Rooney.

AFC Wimbledon defender Dan Csoka has joined Hungarian First Division side Zalaegerszegi for an undisclosed fee.

Csoka, 22, was still under contract at Plough Lane and had made 47 appearances since moving to the club two years ago from Wolverhampton Wanderers on a free transfer after two seasons at Molineux.

The Dons say he was keen to return home to be closer to his family.

The former Hungary youth international's only goal came in a 5-2 loss at Charlton in December 2020.

Millwall manager Gary Rowett has signed a new contract with the Championship club.

The 48-year-old has led the Lions to eighth, 11th and ninth in the table since arriving in October 2019.

The London side were in contention for a Championship play-off place until the final day of last season when they lost 1-0 at promoted Bournemouth.

"We have had three consistent seasons but we want more," said Rowett after signing the contract.

"We have built in a really nice progressive way from the day I walked in. We've tried to improve what we do every season."

Rowett managed Burton, Birmingham, Derby and Stoke before replacing Neil Harris at The Den in 2019.

Millwall have not disclosed the length of Rowett's new deal.

Derby County have signed Tom Barkhuizen, Joe Wildsmith and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing on two-year contracts, their first deals since the club-saving takeover by Clowes Developments.

Forward Barkhuizen, 28, played 208 times for Preston, scoring 38 goals, before his end-of-season exit.

Goalkeeper Wildsmith, 26, heads to Pride Park having left Sheffield Wednesday this summer after 88 games.

Former Owls team-mate Mendez-Laing, 30, adds a winger option to the Rams squad.

Defender Eiran Cashin and midfielder Liam Thompson, both 20, have also signed new two-year contracts.

The deals are all subject to English Football League approval.

Derby, who currently have Liam Rosenior as interim manager following Wayne Rooney's departure as boss late last month, are rebuilding their squad for a first campaign in the third tier since 1985-86 after being relegated from the Championship last season.

Only five first-team players were contracted to the club, before Saturday's announcements.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/...-in-charge

Odd timing, but off you trot.