Birmingham City manager Garry Monk has moved to play down speculation linking him with a summer move to West Brom.

The former Leeds and Swansea manager has been linked with a move to the Hawthorns this past week, but speaking to the Birmingham Mail this weekend, he has said he has no plans to go anywhere.

“We are back in silly season again, summer, rumours, I have told you from the start I don’t deal with speculation. I don’t want to leave here, I want to make sure I can help this club move forward." Monk said.

The comments from Monk will be a relief for Blues fans who are hoping to see a period of stability at the club, with Monk impressing with his work with the squad thus far at St Andrews.

Birmingham were on course for a comfortable top half of the table finish but saw a 10 point deduction scupper any hope they had of making a late push towards the top six in the Championship.

West Brom on the other hand are still searching for a permanent manager despite Jimmy Shan doing a decent job following Darren Moore's sacking, and Monk had been one a of a host of names mentioned to come in and take the reins at the Hawthorns.

Monk though is adamant on his stance it seems, adding: “We have just put a whole year’s worth of work in, I want to be able to build and move that forward."

The Verdict

This is good news for Birmingham fans this, and it's pleasing that Monk is seemingly committing himself to the cause.

He's done very well in hard circumstances really and with another good summer behind them, they might well surprise a few people next season.

Good on Garry Monk for moving quickly to shut rumours down rather than beating around the bush in his response.