When the March international break comes to a close, it will be a tricky final few weeks of the Championship season for Birmingham City.

As things stand, the Blues currently sit 21st in the second-tier standings, three points clear of the relegation zone with eight games of their league season left to play.

With that in mind, it certainly seems as though recently appointed Blues boss Lee Bowyer has his work cut out, and perhaps not surprisingly, there has been plenty of discussion about the club's current situation in the past few days.

Here, we've taken a look at some of the latest Birmingham City news to have emerged from in and around St Andrew's.

Garry Monk makes Xuandong Ren revelation

Like it or not, CEO Xuandong Ren has a considerable amount of influence at Birmingham right now, and it seems that that also impacted Garry Monk's career beyond his departure from St Andrew's.

After leaving Birmingham at the end of the 2018/19 season, Monk's next job saw him take over at Sheffield Wednesday in September 2019, a role he stayed in until his sacking in November last year, and it now seems as though Ren had a role to play in Monk accepting that job at Hillsborough.

Speaking in an interview with The Athletic, Monk admitted that he had known even when he took over the Owls that there were things wrong at Wednesday, but that he had taken the job despite that, in order to try and prove Ren wrong following the officials comments about Monk while he had been at Birmingham.

Bowyer outlines his Birmingham priorities

With their position in the Championship table, and the fact that they have won just three of their last 14 league games, Birmingham clearly have a battle on to avoid relegation this season.

Indeed, that is something that Bowyer is clearly aware of, and it seems the Birmingham boss believes that he has plenty of work to do to his improve his side and ensure that they are still playing second-tier football next season.

Speaking about his priorities for his Blues squad, Bowyer told Birmingham Live that he wants to work on his side defending from set pieces, their movement of the ball in possession, and finishing of chances to give them the best possible chance of remaining in the Championship.

Goodman reveals Bowyer surprise

Of course, to take the job at St Andrew's, Bowyer first had to resign from his managerial position at Charlton Athletic.

The Addicks are currently chasing promotion from League One, while Birmingham are battling to avoid dropping into that division, and it seems Bowyer's choice to swap the two has left a few surprised, including Don Goodman.

Speaking on Sky Sports' EFL Podcast, Goodman admitted he was surprised Bowyer has taken the gamble of swapping Charlton to Birmingham, given the instability that appears to have now come to an end at The Valley, certainly in comparison to the situation with the Blues, with the former Sunderland, Wolves and West Brom striker describing the move as going "out of the frying pan and into the fire" for Bowyer.