New Birmingham Boss Garry Monk Backs Himself to Learn From Leeds Mistakes in St Andrew's Spell

New Birmingham City boss Garry Monk has insisted that he will look to use his past experiences at Leeds to build a solid connection with the fans at Birmingham to succeed at St. Andrew's. 

The former Swansea man spent a poor six month spell at Middlesbrough after his departure from Elland Road, which ended when he was fired in December. Last week saw him appointed as Steve Cotterill's replacement at St Andrew's, with the Midlands with mired in a relegation battle. 

After being asked about the Birmingham fans' demands, Monk responded, via LeedsLive, with a confident answer, saying: "In terms of the demand, and what I’ve seen big clubs do before, I’ve seen it here before when it’s been that hostile, that passionate and I’ve seen the team thriving off it.

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"I had a good experience at Leeds with the same situation, taking a fractured club across all situations and we managed to put it into a situation where everything was connected.

"There was a connection from the team to the terraces and the terraces to the team, and everyone at the club. That’s the ambition, but it’s not a quick fix."

The former Swansea boss also revealed that he wanted to sign Birmingham wide-man Jota during his time at Leeds, admitting: "I remember at Leeds he [Jota] tore us apart in two games, so obviously I was aware of him.

"He was one we were interested in for sure, I wouldn’t say it got down to the line where it was certain to sign - but he was definitely one we were interested in at that point."

Monk will aim to learn from these experiences at Leeds to establish a positive connection with the Birmingham fans and take them out of the relegation zone. His first game comes against his old club Middlesbrough in what will prove to be a tough fixture for the Blues.