Championship strugglers Birmingham City have appointed Garry Monk as their new manager following the dismissal of Steve Cotterill on Saturday. The former Middlesbrough manager has been handed a three-and-a-half year deal with the west Midlands outfit, and he has the task of getting the club out of the relegation zone.

A statement on the club’s official website read: “The club is delighted to announce the appointment of Garry Monk as our new manager.He will be assisted by Pep Clotet, James Beattie and Darryl Flahavan. Sean Rush joins Monk’s backroom staff as Head of Performance and Ryan Needs comes in as Head of Analysis.After talks today, Monk has signed a three-and-a-half year contract.Assistant Manager Clotet, First Team Coach Beattie and Goalkeeper Coach Flahavan have also agreed contracts until the summer of 2021.”

Monk is expected to take charge of first-team training tomorrow as he prepares the Blues to face his former employers Middlesbrough on Tuesday. The Blues have succumbed to five straight defeats in the Championship, and this has seen them fall two points adrift of safety. To make things worse, the club are the lowest scoring outfit in the division with just 23 goals in 35 games, and Monk needs to find a quick solution to the club’s woes with 13 matches left in the season.

The Blues are no strangers to beating the Championship drop, having done it with Harry Redknapp last term, where they secured two victories from their last three matches. Prior to that, they survived relegation in the most dramatic of circumstances during the 2013/14 season, where they survived with a 2-2 draw against Bolton Wanderers. The club found themselves 2-0 down against the Trotters with just 15 minutes left on the clock, but goals from Nikola Zigic and Paul Caddis – the latter in the 93rd minute of the game, ensured Lee Clark’s men avoided a return to League One – for the first time in two decades.