Birmingham City manager Garry Monk responded to a report linking him with being the next West Bromwich Albion and he appeared to distance himself.
The Daily Mail claimed at the start of May that the Baggies had been impressed by the job Monk had done at Birmingham City and that he was now the leading candidate to be the club’s next manager.
However Monk dismissed the report by referring to it as speculation before sharing that he was currently talking with Birmingham City’s owners regarding plans for next season.
“Speculation is speculation y’know it comes at some point every season, generally it is in the summer windows or January window when there’s speculation about players or managers,” said Monk on Sky Sports News (18:42, Monday May 6th).
“For managers it’s bad and good but I’m not focused on it at all, I’m focused on Birmingham like I’ve said I wanted to put foundations down to build upon and I’m sitting now with the owners to workout that plan.
“In terms of finances we’re still playing catch up to a lot of teams in this league, I think everyone has to be fully understanding of that and a lot of work and planning we’ll have to stick with those financial restrictions we are facing again this summer, but if we do it like we did the summer before, smart and everyone on the same page.
“So that’s what I’m focused on with the club.”
OPINION
It doesn’t sound like Monk is about to become West Brom manager. While it would be odd if the English boss said that he was keen, given he is currently in charge of Birmingham City, the fact he is planning for next season is rather telling. Monk wouldn’t be thinking about the 2019/20 campaign if there wasn’t any chance that he was about to arrive at the Hawthorns. However maybe the Baggies just haven’t made him an offer as of yet, so he doesn’t want to edge his bets. This is because Monk would be silly if he claimed the Baggies job interested him only for him not to get it, as Birmingham City would no doubt bin him for saying as much. While Monk being the next manager of West Brom is debatable, it’s clear the Baggies have to be careful with who they pick next. This is because there looks like being a massive rebuilding job to be done at the Hawthorns next season as their current squad could be dismantled depending on what league they find themselves in.