Birmingham City

Gianfranco Zola: 'I need to prove myself to Birmingham City fans'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 15 December 2016

New Birmingham City manager Gianfranco Zola admits that he needs to prove himself to the club's fans after replacing popular boss Gary Rowett.

New Birmingham City manager Gianfranco Zola has admitted that he will need to prove himself to the club's fans after replacing Gary Rowett.

Rowett's surprise sacking earlier this week came with the club level on points with the playoff places, and a poll in a local newspaper revealed that 83% of Birmingham fans disagreed with the decision to replace him with Zola.

The Italian called in five senior players on Wednesday to help with the transition, and he is hopeful that the supporters will give him a chance to succeed.

"I need to prove my qualities to the fans but they should give us a chance, and I tried to put myself in the position of the players," Zola told reporters.

"They are in a way surprised at this, like I was myself when I received the phone call. So I was trying to reassure them that I'm here for them and I will give everything I've got in terms of experience and knowledge to make them better.

"I wanted to speak to the ones that are probably the players that could be the ambassadors for the others. I am unlucky in a way as I only have one day to prepare the team. You have to be careful not to change too many things as you can do more damage than good."

Zola's first match in charge of Birmingham will come against second-placed Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.