Thursday 15 December 2016 18:23, UK
Gianfranco Zola plans to call Gary Rowett after acknowledging he has a job to win over Birmingham fans unhappy at his appointment.
Zola replaced Rowett on Wednesday in a shock move by the club's owners, and the Italian will inherit a side just one point outside the Sky Bet Championship's play-off places.
The results of a local newspaper poll claimed 83 per cent of Blues supporters would rather Rowett was still in charge, and Zola did not shy away from the issue at his first press conference on Thursday.
"Look, I do have sympathy for him," said Zola, who has previously had spells in charge of West Ham and Watford. "I've been in this kind of position myself so I know what it feels like. He has my respect because I feel he has done a good job here. But I'm a professional too.
"I feel for a colleague who has lost his job, but life goes on. I'm sure Gary will find a good job. When I was asked if I wanted the job, it wasn't easy because of the other manager but you make that consideration.
"But it was an interesting job and I decided to accept it. I'll do my best to make sure it was the right decision
"I haven't spoken to him but I will try to. We're both professionals and part of the job is to go through these things. If I feel right I will give him a call and extend my sympathy to him."
Zola called in five senior players - Michael Morrison, Lukas Jutkiewicz, Paul Robinson, Jonathan Spector and Ryan Shotton - on Wednesday on what was a restday for the Blues in an attempt to help ease the transition with the playing squad.
"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," he said.
"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."
