Sky Sports pundit Danny Higginbotham has issued his verdict on Birmingham City boss Pep Clotet and suggested that “time will tell” whether he is the right man for the job.

Clotet took charge in the summer, stepping up from his previous role as assistant manager after Garry Monk was sacked in June.

The Blues job is only the Spaniard’s second in English football after a six-month spell at League One side Oxford United in the 2017/18 season.

Despite losing captain Michael Morrison and top-scorer Che Adams, among others, this summer, Birmingham have produced some great results at the start of the season and are eighth with seven points from three games.

However, it could be argued that results against Barnsley and Bristol City were fortunate, while the side have suffered hammerings at the hands of Nottingham Forest and League One Portsmouth.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World Chief Editor Sam Rourke, Higginbotham gave his verdict on whether Clotet is the right man for the Birmingham job and argued that his lack of experience as a Championship manager was not necessarily a concern.

He said: “I think time will tell (whether Clotet is the right man for the job). I think it is difficult.

“I am not one that says experience is absolutely vital because I think what we have seen is a few people coming into jobs and doing unbelievably well.

"You only have to look at Lee Bowyer, his first full season at Charlton he got the team promoted, and Frank Lampard, who did a great job at Derby. There are other managers as well.

"A lot of people will talk about experience and knowing the league, I don’t think it is overly important to have an unbelievable understanding of what the Championship is all about.

"I think you obviously have to understand how fast the turnaround is, how many you games you have to play but I think the Championship is always evolving."

[ad_pod ]

Higginbotham explained that the landscape and style had changed in the second tier of English football.

He said: “You’ve got the likes of (Phillip) Cocu, obviously (Marcelo) Bielsa, (Slaven) Bilic, and you had Chris Wilder last season.

“There are so many different styles now and I think that the Championship now has evolved so much that I don’t think it is as vitally important to have Championship experience as it was previously when the Championship was very similar, in terms of a lot of the teams playing in the same way.

"It is so different now, so I don’t believe it is imperative that you have Championship experience when you are going to become a manager but it’s a very tough league.

“It is one of the toughest leagues around, there is no doubt about that because of the competitiveness.”

Birmingham face another test on Saturday as they travel to the Liberty Stadium to play Swansea City, who are unbeaten in the league this season.