Birmingham City collected their second win of the season at St Andrew's yesterday as a Lukas Jutkiewicz wonder show downed Paul Warne's Rotherham side.

The result lifted Birmingham to 17th in the table, five points clear of the bottom three and came courtesy of the bustling forward's first ever senior hat trick.

Blues manager Garry Monk was serving a touchline ban too, meaning he was unable to communicate directly with assistant Pep Clotet. When asked after the game how he liaised with his assistant, he gave a startling answer.

"We just ignore each other! We know what we’re doing and it’s clear what we need to do on the pitch and we always plan things anyway. And different scenarios," he told Birmingham Live.

Monk was sent off during a tempestuous 1-1 draw with Brentford in midweek, but he claimed that his relationship with Clotet is almost psychic and he knows what his partner is thinking and vice versa.

"For instance on Tuesday night we already knew with 10-men what it would be. We’ve worked with each other a long time now all of the staff and it’s about planning ahead, different scenarios, and if there is a tactical change in the game like Ipswich when we tactically changed it."

The Blues now face a lay-off for the international break, facing a tough trip to Stoke City on October 20th.

The Verdict

This is the relationship all successful managers have with their assistants. Peter Taylor and Brian Clough were similar. It can only lead a club forward when there's such unity on the touchline.

The Rotherham win was big for Monk, it gave his side breathing space in the division and capped off the September period nicely. They've been hard to beat, but to bag another three points sets them up for a pre-Christmas push.

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