Birmingham City: Gary Rowett says Blues 'need results, not words'
- Published
Gary Rowett was replaced by Gianfranco Zola at Birmingham when he was previously sacked, in 2016
Birmingham City interim boss Gary Rowett says his return to Blues after more than seven years away - to stand in for the recovering Tony Mowbray - is simply about getting good results.
Rowett has eight games to keep Blues in the Championship, starting with Friday's trip to Queens Park Rangers.
"We have to impact instantly as the games will be thick and fast," he said.
"It's not for me to reason about why the team is in the situation it's in. It's about what we do now."
After the sacked John Eustace and Wayne Rooney, caretaker Steve Spooner, Mowbray and his number two Mark Venus, the club's initial interim choice, Rowett will be the sixth different Blues boss to give a team talk this season.
Rowett comes in to take over a Blues side who initially looked like pulling clear of trouble after Mowbray took over in January, only to hit a slump of just one point out of a possible 18 when Mowbray went on sick leave in February.
"When you've had different managers, with different ways of playing, that can make it a little more difficult," Rowett told BBC Radio WM.
"Players thrive on confidence, continuity and stability but sometimes you're put in situations you could not possibly have planned for and it's about what you do next.
"When I got the call, it was a case of 'would I normally be an interim manager for eight games?' My managerial career so far suggests probably not. But it just felt like the right time and the right thing to do, at the right club."
Birmingham were seventh in the Championship, kept out of the top six only on goal difference, when Rowett's time as Blues boss was so rudely interrupted the day after a 2-1 home win over Ipswich in December 2016.
Blues now stand in 21st, and it is only goal difference keeping them out of the relegation zone as they go into a bank holiday weekend which also throws up a home date against Preston on Easter Monday, while knowing that it is the two Yorkshire away trips to Rotherham and Huddersfield in late April that may hold the key to their survival hopes.
Rowett met the Birmingham press corps for the first time since December 2016
"The first priority was that Tony's OK and that he's got everything he needs to get better," said Rowett. "That's what everyone in football would want.
"And it was important for me to know that he was part of the whole process in me coming back in.
"But the message has been there from day one. We've got to do what we have to do and we have to give the players the confidence and the belief to do it.
"Being a player here and a manager here before gives you that understanding. And hopefully the fans will still feel that connection, but what it doesn't do is buy points.
"It's good results that bring positivity - not words.
"It's about going down to Loftus Road with the right attitude, to get on the front foot and look to win the game. I'm excited about it and so the players should be too. It's about getting stuck in and rolling your sleeves up."
Birmingham City interim manager Gary Rowett was talking to BBC Radio WM's Richard Wilford