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Pep Clotet has been confirmed as Birmingham City’s permanent head coach - removing the caretaker tag under which he has been operating since succeeding Garry Monk.

The Spaniard becomes the 29th post-war occupant of the St Andrew’s hotseat following a promising start to the brief given to him in the summer.

Clotet , who was formerly assistant to Monk at Blues , Leeds and Swansea, has made good headway in overhauling the team’s playing style and introducing young players into the side.

And after a weekend in which it was bizarrely claimed Blues would look to appoint Coventry City’s Mark Robins, they have removed any doubt about Clotet’s position.

The announcement also comes a week after Clotet came under attack from Monk, an incident which he handled with dignity.

They confirmed the move in a statement which said: “He has proven to the Board of Directors that he is the man to help lead Blues and to drive us to achieve ours and our supporters’ ambitions.

“Pep has shown his coaching expertise, man-management and leadership skills, allied to exemplary professional conduct, that can help take the Club forward.

“We have a clear vision of what our footballing philosophy needs to be and Pep and his staff have begun to implement that in a short space of time.

“He has also brought out the best of, and trusted in, our young players. This is another important part of our strategy.

“The Club must be together as one, with the same togetherness and ethos through from the Academy, the Under-23s to the First Team.

“We trust that our supporters will continue to get behind Pep, the coaching staff and the players, all of whom are passionate about bringing success to Birmingham City and have the Club’s interests at heart.

“This season, with Paco Herrera alongside as Assistant Head Coach, Craig Gardner as Player/Coach - Gardner becomes First Team Coach this summer - Xavi Calm assisting as Coach, Darryl Flahavan as Goalkeeper Coach and Sean Rush leading the physical performance department, Blues have undergone a transition, and continue to build towards a promising and exciting future.”