Birmingham striker’s smart message to Leeds owner regarding Garry Monk following clubs’ previous meeting

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Birmingham City heaped the early pressure upon new Leeds United boss Garry Monk back in August.

Birmingham’s Clayton Donaldson

Ahead of Leeds United’s trip to Birmingham City on Friday night, Whites fans may want to be reminded of the message that the Blues striker Clayton Donaldson indirectly sent to the Leeds hierarchy about Garry Monk following the two clubs’ previous meeting, as reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post.

Back in August, Monk was already seemingly fighting for his job after just one competitive game following a very poor opening day performance against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road – a fact that was confirmed by the Mirror later that month following their defeat to Birmingham and draw with Fulham – seemingly making the clash with the Midlands outfit an extremely important one for the former Swansea boss.

However, the Blues – then managed by Gary Rowett – silenced the Elland Road crowd by coming away with a 2-1 victory. But with some perhaps wondering whether Massimo Cellino’s ruthless reputation for wielding the axe was going to be enhanced again, Donaldson urged the Leeds board to give Monk time.

“It’s a running joke with Leeds United. I think when we went 1-0 up you could hear our away fans singing ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning.’ Obviously Monk has been in the Premier League recently. He’s a young manager and an English manager as well. You want to try and give those managers time,” he said following the game, as reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post.

Leeds United manager Garry Monk

While the Whites hierarchy were unlikely to take much notice of what the Birmingham forward thought at the time, it is fair to say that he has been proven completely right and the club’s patience has paid off as Leeds have gone on to become one of the surprises of the season.

Monk’s men go into Friday’s game fourth in the Championship table, and will be able to close the gap to the top two to just seven points should they pick up a win at St Andrew’s.

So while Donaldson felt that giving Monk time would pay off for Leeds, he probably would not have imagined when he made the comments that when the two sides met again, Birmingham would be preparing to face one of the division’s promotion chasers.