He shocked us all that day he signed for the Mackems ... but here he tells us why he did it ... and why the future is bright for Birmingham City.
Some managers appeared to be put off the Blues job because of off the field reasons. Why weren’t you?
Lee Clark: “Basically because it’s a massive club. I experienced it from playing against Birmingham. I quickly realised the passionate fans, the support they gave the team, and I’d seen from the outside what they achieved last season.
“I’d watched them quite a bit on TV. Looking into the squad there’s some fantastic players here and since I’ve been in, that’s proven to be the case.”
Not even the tough financial parameters made you wary?
Lee Clark: “No. I see it as a bit of a challenge actually. Rightly or wrongly, there was always this debate when I was Huddersfield Town manager that I had a bottomless pit, which was never the situation.
“I picked up good players for good prices from lower leagues and I developed them, alongside my coaching staff, into better players and added value to the squad.
“This is a different type of challenge. Everyone knows my remit, what we can do in terms of players we can bring in. But what the board have done, the people at the club, they have allowed us to be competitive in terms of salaries, etc. This club is a massive pull for players. All the players we have brought in have been courted by other clubs and they’ve chosen us.”
Has anything surprised you in the weeks since you were appointed?
Lee Clark: “What has hit me hard is that the football club is full of fantastic people who have given us nothing but help and support. As I have said on numerous occasions when I was doing my due diligence on the club when I first started talks with them, everyone spoke highly of them, there was never a negative word to be said about the people here. Everyone has helped my staff and myself immensely. I cannot wait for the season to start, I cannot wait to get going. We are looking forward to hopefully giving supporters the team they deserve.”
You have deliberately not made massive changes or ripped things to shreds?
Lee Clark: “I have come into a club that has only changed its manager is because it has been successful. The manager has gone to a higher league. I didn’t come to the club because they had done things wrong, they had done things extremely well on the pitch and as a playing staff and as a management team. That’s why Birmingham needed a new manager, because the old one got head hunted from a club playing in a league above.
“Also, I know Chris Hughton very well. I know his thoughts, his beliefs, and they’re very similar to mine. My coaching sessions might be a little bit different, I don’t know. But ultimately the end message is of the same ilk. Let’s continue, and hopefully get a bit of luck Birmingham didn’t get at the end of last season.
“A big factor for me is that - and I know it was brilliant for the lads and the supporters - we don’t have to endure the Europa League. The amount of games they had on top of the tough Championship programme took its toll.”
Blues travelled 11,000 miles during their Europa League campaign.
Lee Clark: "I have done it both as a player and a coach and I know is effect. It’s no coincidence that the clubs I have been at in the Europa League have had indifferent seasons in the league. That’s why there should be such great credit to Birmingham for doing ever so well in the Championship, to get to the play-offs. The travelling, the disruption of games - playing Thursdays and Sundays etc - it is a problem. The players just seemed to take it in their stride and the manager managed that situation brilliantly.
“I just felt that there wasn’t too much to be changed. There were obviously players who went, loan signings, and one or two players sold. They had to be replaced. But in essence the overall situation was that we had to make sure we continued with the good things that had been done last season.”
What have Blues got to do to take that next step, compared to last season?
Lee Clark: “I think it’s a bit of luck, I honestly do. Birmingham were missing some important players for the play-off games as the long, hard season took its toll. One or two of them had injuries, which was very unfortunate. If we can people fit for as long as possible, then we’ve got a great chance of being successful. That means if it does come to a situation whereby it’s the play-offs, you’ve got your best eleven available. I just think that Chris, unluckily, didn’t have that last season in the play-offs.”
Chris Hughton’s task was to reach the play-offs, minimum. Peter Pannu described that target as ‘realistic’. What is your brief?
Lee Clark: “The brief, the aim or the pressure from the board . . . it’s from myself. To be successful. I have said all along that I want to manage in the Premier League and this club has given me a fantastic opportunity to achieve that ambition and the pressure is all coming from within myself. I have got high demands of myself, I have got huge ambitions of what I want to do as a manager. So whatever the board may think, whatever the people in charge may think, the biggest demands come from within.”
What can we expect from a Lee Clark Blues team?
Lee Clark: “The ideal scenario, the philosophy, is high tempo, quick passing, attractive football, creating lots of chances, being on the front foot. When we haven’t got the ball, press to get it back. Playing front foot football I call it, getting the fans on the edge of their seats, excited. Pushing on, being strong, being committed. And win, lose or draw, knowing that everyone has given their absolute maximum. I think if everyone does that, with the quality we have, we will win a hell of a lot of games and certainly win a hell of a lot more than we lose.”
You have played for managers who like that style, which must have had an impact on your thinking?
Lee Clark: “It would be crazy for me to do anything different. I have played for three teams and the managers all played that way. I was that type of player myself. So I don’t know any different really. I am not saying guys doing it differently are doing it the wrong way, this is just my way, this is how I do it.
"That’s the way I see football. Someone else might have a different variation in the way they go about it, I’m not going to say that’s the wrong way. The Lee Clark way is to entertain the fans as I’m a fan at the end of the day. I’ve always said that since I was 16. I was lucky enough to be a football supporter but then I was lucky enough to be a player and now I’m lucky enough to be a manager. I know what the fans pay good money for and I will try and deliver that.”
After your experiences at Huddersfield Town, are Blues getting a better manager?
Lee Clark: “Without a doubt.
“I have matured as a manager, it was my first big job. As I’ve touched on, I’m my own biggest critic. There were certain aspects, since I have had time out of the game, I have reflected on and looked at and believe I can do better in, and I will be bringing that to Birmingham.
“So, without a doubt, Birmingham City are getting a more polished manager and certainly, from just over the three years I was there, a more experienced manager in all aspects of the job. Until you are in it - even being a coach or an assistant manager - in the hot seat, you don’t actually realise the full situation of the job. I will always be grateful to Dean Hoyle for giving me the Huddersfield job and I think what that’s done has given me the opportunity to become an even better manager.”
You are Blues youngest manager for 25 years. Is age a factor?
Lee Clark: “I say it with my players, that doesn’t matter.
“I have played for some great managers and I knew I wanted to do this for many, many years. It didn’t just come to me in my 30s, that I decided I wanted to be a manager. I was in my early 20s.
"Even in my teens I was coaching. I didn’t become a manager by fluke, I knew I always wanted this. So even though I am still young in managerial terms, I have worked diligently and studied a hell of a lot of people, I have read thousands of articles on top managers and coaches and I have just watched people work. I picked up a lot of knowledge from that because I knew that I wanted to be in this position from a very early age.”
Who were your major managerial influences?
Lee Clark: “I get asked this and it’s a difficult one to answer because I don’t know if I’ve just been a lucky lad, but all the managers I have played for have shown me different aspects of the job.
“From a young age at Newcastle United I had Jim Smith, who has got an affinity with Birmingham. He was a tough task master in terms of his senior players. He looked after me brilliantly as a 17-year-old.
“Then we went onto Ossie Ardilles who brought youth into the group and gave us all unbelievable amounts of confidence and made us go and show the supporters what our assets were, we played with freedom.
“Then there was obviously Kevin Keegan’s era which was possibly the best time in the football club’s history. His motivational and man management skills were unbelievable.
“Kenny Dalglish, a man who has won huge trophies as a player and manager, had great togetherness with his group.
“Graeme Souness in adversity showed me how to handle a tough job and never let it affect your players. He was never a popular manager in terms of the Newcastle fans, but he was a great man manager and great person in never letting what was going on on the terraces in regards him and the supporters affect the players in any way. That showed me how to handle the not so nice side of the game.
“The only reason I signed for Sunderland was because of the manager, Peter Reid, a great man manager, tactician. He got great teams together.
“An ex-playing team mate of mine Paul Bracewell took me to Fulham, someone who I respect and admire a hell of a lot.
“And then I had the foreign influence, which was huge. Jean Tigana. The French were the World Champions, the European Champions, and they were the ones who world football were following. He brought some unbelievable ideas into my thought process, both on the nutrition and fitness side of it, and how the team should play. He was a massive influence on me.
“And then another ex-team mate of mine, Chris Coleman, who unfortunately had to retire because of his serious car accident. He was the youngest ever Premier League manager and I took great knowledge from how Chris adapted from being a player in the team to being a top manager. I watched him closely and he took to it unbelievably well. He’s had a great managerial career now and he’s doing a dream of his, managing his country.
“I have had a wide brand of managers and they have all influenced me in a positive way. They have all have had a huge part to play. But ultimately I’ve got to be my own man and do it my way, implement my beliefs. But certainly I have taken certain aspects from each of them I have worked under and put it into the role.”
You have played for teams who have waltzed the Championship, in Sunderland and Fulham. What do you expect the division to be like this season?
“It will be unbelievably tough. Eighteen of the teams have played in the Premier League. That tells you the competition. They’ve had a taste of being in the biggest league in the world. Eighteen teams. But it is something that I am thriving on. You go to magnificent stadiums, clubs with great history, terrific fan bases. So the atmospheres are going to be brilliant. It’s the third highest supported league in Europe in terms of the size of the crowds, so it’s fantastic. I am really looking forward to the season. While I was Huddersfield manager I was hoping to be a Championship manager, to get them promoted. You know, what’s happened is that I’ve come to a huge club with a huge history and a Premier League history. And I want to try and get Birmingham back there as quickly as possible.”