Birmingham announce Garry Monk as new manager

Championship strugglers Birmingham have appointed Garry Monk as their new manager on a three-and-a-half-year contract.

The former Swansea and Leeds boss had been out of work since leaving Middlesbrough in December.

Monk will be joined at St Andrew’s by coaches Pep Clotet, James Beattie and Darryl Flahavan.

“The club is delighted to have secured the services of one of the game’s brightest young managers in Monk,” a statement read.

Blues moved quickly to appoint a new manager after sacking Steve Cotterill on Saturday evening following a fifth successive Sky Bet Championship defeat at Nottingham Forest.

The result left Birmingham two points from safety and searching for their third permanent manager of the season.

Monk has been tasked with securing the club’s Championship status in the final 11 games.

The 38-year-old managed Swansea in the Premier League between 2014 and 2015 before helping Leeds to a seventh-placed finish in the second tier last term.

He was unable to agree an extension to his stay at Elland Road under new owner Andrea Radrizzani, leaving last May before swiftly taking up the reins at Middlesbrough.

Monk was sacked by Boro two days before Christmas in the aftermath of a victory at Sheffield Wednesday that left the north-east club within three points of the play-offs.

His first game in charge of Birmingham is a reunion with his former employers at St Andrew’s on Tuesday.

Monk will need to hit the ground running with Blues third from bottom in the table, the same position the club held when Cotterill took over last September.

Cotterill struggled to turn things around, winning just seven of his 27 games.

Further questions over his future were raised on Saturday when there was no Birmingham presence in the Nottingham Forest boardroom.

Press Association Sport understands Birmingham, owned by Chinese firm Trillion Trophy Asia, opted to have a private box for the game at the City Ground.

Cotterill replaced Harry Redknapp after the former Tottenham boss lasted just 13 games.

Redknapp was drafted in for the final three matches of last season – with Cotterill his assistant – and guided Blues to safety, banking a £250,000 survival bonus.

He was given £20million to spend in the summer, breaking the club’s transfer record by signing Jota from Brentford for over £6million, but left after only 10 games of this season.

Birmingham held talks with former Scotland boss Gordon Strachan over replacing Cotterill, despite the 61-year-old being out of club management since 2010.

But Monk was viewed as the stand-out candidate as Blues aim to avoid dropping down to the third tier for the first time since 1994.