Birmingham City's acting chairman Peter Pannu has played down talk of a rift between himself and St Andrew's manager Alex McLeish.

Pannu had made a barbed comment about McLeish being 'no Jose Mourinho', suggesting that the Scotsman was asking for too much money.

However, the Blues official has now clarified his stance, telling the Birmingham Mail:"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.

"In fact, I spoke to Alex about the Mourinho reference and we laughed about it. In the whole context of the interview I did, it would not have had a sting to it.

"But to take out the extract like that made it look worse than it was.

"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 in the context of the conversation I had."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email