Peter Pannu denies Alex McLeish rift

Birmingham acting chairman Peter Pannu has dismissed talk of a rift with Alex McLeish and insisted the boss is "inches" from signing a new contract.

Pannu sparked surprise earlier this week by claiming McLeish was asking for "a very large amount of money which I was not prepared to meet" and was "no Jose Mourinho."

But Pannu has now insisted the comments were not meant as a criticism and claimed McLeish could sign a new contract as early as next week.

He said: "This is all nonsense. We are just perhaps inches away from Alex signing a contract, possibly by next week.

"Our relationship is phenomenal, we are very strong and close, and I want to dispel this notion that there is anything wrong.

"I spoke to Alex about the Mourinho reference and we laughed about it. Mourinho came up because I mentioned that the agent who made the initial approach to me about Alex and his contract represents Mourinho.

"Nothing was meant as a slight to Alex."

Birmingham striker Kevin Phillips gave McLeish a ringing endorsement when he appeared at a media event yesterday.

The 37-year-old former Albion and Villa striker said: "I know every player at the club wants the manager to stay. He's worked miracles here. Everything is in place.

"We all know contracts take a while to sort out and I'm sure he'll get it sorted."

McLeish has pressed ahead with his team-building despite the speculation.

One of his new signings, Czech Republic defender Martin Jiranek, claims he rejected an 11th-hour approach from top German side Schalke to sign for Blues from Spartak Moscow.

He said: "I had many offers. Three from teams in Spain, one from Germany, one from Russia but it was my dream to test myself in the Premier League - which is probably the best league in the world.

"I knew Birmingham finished ninth in the league last season, which is a great result. I was quite happy to join that kind of team.

"It's a new challenge for me. In Russia I was there seven years as captain of Spartak Moscow and played in the and UEFA Cup and Russian League, so every part of the grass was already well known.

"New motivation was needed."