Sheffield Wednesday: 'It hurt me to leave that club' - Garry Monk reflects on his time at Birmingham City as he gears up to face his former club

It is safe to say Garry Monk and Pep Clotet no longer see eye-to-eye and no pleasantries will be exchanged.

Clotet was assistant to the Owls manager at Swansea City, Leeds United and Birmingham before succeeding him at St Andrew's after Monk was controversially sacked last June.

Monk said he made an "error of judgement" working with Clotet, claiming the Spaniard was more interested in pursuing his own career than being loyal to him.

His comments have added extra spice to tomorrow's night Championship fixture, which will be the first time Monk has faced his former club.

The 40-year-old enjoyed his 15-month spell at Birmingham, earning plenty of plaudits for the job he did in challenging circumstances.

"I will always want that club to do well," Monk told The Star. "The fans gave me a lot and I want them to do well.

"I want those players who were with me to do well in their careers as well, but obviously not on Wednesday night.

"I haven't watched too much of them. Only the last four or five games.

"They have their own ambitions and that will be to get to the Premier League. Even last season, the expectation was to get to the play-offs and I don't see why it would be any different this season."

After replacing Steve Cotterill as Blues manager in March 2018, Monk led the club to Championship survival on the final day with a 3-1 win over Fulham.

Monk admitted: "Had we gone down to League One, it could have been disastrous.

"The feeling when I came in, even between the players and the fans, was that they were dead buried and gone so to galvanise those players and get them back on track was fantastic."

Despite operating under a soft embargo and being hit with nine-point deduction for breaching English Football League's Profitability and Sustainability regulations last season, Monk worked his magic to lead Birmingham to a creditable 17th-placed finish, 12 points above the relegation zone.

Monk trimmed their wage bill and turned the Blues into a side vastly superior than the sum of its parts. Not only was Monk a popular figure with the fan-base, but he brought a palpable sense of optimism and unity back to the club.

"My relationship with the fans and those players' there will always be strong," he said. "I have a great connection with them."

But a breakdown in his relationship with chief executive Xuandong Ren culminated in Monk's Birmingham exit. When Monk was axed, Clotet remained and was placed in charge of first-team affairs.

Monk said: "I will be honest; it hurt me to leave that club at the time after all that work had been put in.

“Then you receive that text, a text saying your job has been terminated - that’s how it was - yeah, I was hugely disappointing after all that work."

There was plenty of acrimony surrounding Monk's departure, with Ren claiming Monk was sacked for attempting to involve his own agent James Featherstone in all their transfer dealings.

Yet Monk, who returned to management in early September with Wednesday, maintains that neither he nor his representative did anything wrong, describing the allegations as "false and unsubstantiated accusations"."When you go through moments that hurt you, I have always been the type where it adds fuel to the fire," said Monk.

"Those players and the fans gave me a lot and there is no shame in saying that. They gave me massive commitment and support and really good memories.

"There is no bitterness for me in terms of towards the club side of it with the players and fans at all.

"There are other situations which we have talked about that hurt and cut deep but that is life.

"You live and learn. You have to learn quick and sometimes you have to learn in a harsh way.

"You have certain values that you try and hold yourself to and sadly some others don't have those values but that's life and you have to get on with it and use it as motivation. That is how I have always treated it and I have done that throughout my whole career.

"It is just another log on the fire and there will be a few more on this one. My feelings for the fans and players there was nothing but admiration and respect."

Clotet refused to discuss his relationship with Monk.

"Being very simple about the situation, it is a football game away from home against Sheffield Wednesday and the focus is on competing for the three points," he said. "And we are very confident about our chances. This is the only thing that matters."