Sheffield Wednesday: Who is Birmingham City boss Pep Clotet and how long did he work with Garry Monk?

Monk was surprisingly sacked as manager of Birmingham earlier this after a high-profile breakdown in communication with club CEO Xuandong Ren.

And speaking ahead of their Championship clash at Hillsborough, Monk admitted he no longer speaks with the Spaniard, accusing him of lacking ‘hard work loyalty’.

But who is Pep Clotet? And for how long did the pair work together and where? Let’s take a look at their relationship to date.

Who is Pep Clotet?

Giving up a modest amateur playing career in his native Spain, Clotet – now 42 – took up coaching in his twenties, starting with UE Cornella and then moving through the ranks at RCD Espanyol.

Clotet was sacked in his first job, as boss at third tier UE Figueres, where he was sacked after nine matches. After moving to Scandinavia, Clotet worked under Sheffield Wednesday icon Roland Nilsson at Malmo, leaving to take the top job at Halmstads BK, where he finished last in the Swedish top tier.

Other coaching jobs at Norwegian side Viking FK and Malaga followed before Michael Laudrup brought him to Swansea City as academy consultant in November 2013.

May 2014

With Laudrup sacked and Swansea struggling in the Premier League, the club turned to club legend Garry Monk, who secured survival. When he was announced as the club’s full-time boss in May 2014 Clotet was promoted to assistant manager and under their tutelage, they produced an eye-catching start to the season, winning each of their first three matches of the season including an opening day 2-1 win over Manchester United.

The pair masterminded Swansea’s best-ever finish as they finished eighth.

November 2015

Clotet was approached to become the new manager of Championship Brentford. Despite mounting pressure at Swansea the Spaniard turned the role down, reportedly out of loyalty to Monk, and Dean Smith – now manager of Aston Villa – took the role instead.

Monk was sacked two weeks later and Clotet left the club.

June 2016

With Monk appointed Leeds United manager, Clotet joined on as his assistant once again. The Whites quickly built a promotion campaign and occupied the play-off places for the majority of the season, falling away in the final weeks and finishing seventh.

The now-Sheffield Wednesday manager resigned and Clotet stayed on, leaving the West Yorkshire club in the days following Thomas Christiansen’s arrival.

He took over at League One Oxford United and was sacked within seven months with a win percentage of 33%.

March 2018

Birmingham was the next stop for the pair, with Monk having worked without the Spaniard during his short-lived reign at Middlesbrough.

In difficult circumstances the Midlands club were steered to a 17th place finish despite a 12 point deduction for failure to comply with FFP regulations.

June 2019

With Monk sacked following an acrimonious breakdown in communication with club bosses, Clotet stayed on and took over as caretaker manager.

He remains in that role with Birmingham sat in 15th place, winless in three and seven wins in their 17 matches.

November 2019

Ahead of the visit of Clotet’s Birmingham City to his Sheffield Wednesday, Monk said: “In terms of the, I don’t know what it is… is it interim, caretaker, head coach? I’m not sure what his title is but I don’t speak, I don’t speak with him.

“I think what’s most important to me is when I’m assembling a staff around me to work with me, the key for me is to give them opportunity.

“It is to show them that complete trust and you hope that they repay that trust with hard work and loyalty.

“Sadly, not everyone has those values in their character. Some choose to pursue their own opportunities in the worst possible way.

“But I think the most important thing for me is that you live and you learn. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t listen to a lot of people in football circles who warned me about the type of character he is.

“But, yeah, that’s an error in judgement from myself. It’s a mistake that I won’t be making again in the future.”