Craig Gardner takes Championship Technical Director post months after Sheffield Wednesday exit

Gardner came to Wednesday as one of Tony Pulis’ coaching staff when the former Stoke City and Middlesbrough boss took the Owls job, and then left alongside him not long afterwards when things didn’t work out.

The ex-defender has now been confirmed as Lee Bowyer’s Technical Director at Birmingham, and has been credited with playing ‘an important role’ in the recent signing of both Ryan Woods and Jordan Graham for the Blues this window.

“Firstly I’d like to thank the Board for the opportunity… This is an important period for the Football Club and I’m honoured to take up the role of Technical Director.

“We have needed a period of stability for some time now and I’m looking forward to working closely with the Board to put plans in place to make sure we achieve that. This is about steadily building, growing as a Club both on and off the pitch, increasing standards and improving in all departments.

“It’s not going to happen overnight but if we can lay the foundations over the coming months and years, then we’ll hopefully see the impact further down the line.

We’ll be making a number of changes behind-the-scenes to restructure the Club. Everything from the recruitment department, to the Academy pathway, into First Team performance. We’ve got to look at it all and rebuild.

“Personally, I’m excited because we have a Head Coach who gets what it means to represent the Club and it’s my job to support him and his staff and get everyone pulling in the same direction.

“I have to make life as easy as possible for Lee [Bowyer] so he can focus all of his efforts with the players out on the pitch. I’ve heard supporters say it feels like the start of a new era and it’s up to us to make sure it’s a successful one.

“But the most important thing for me, is to give the fans a voice which is what they deserve.”

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