Birmingham have appointed former Norwich City manager Peter Grant as first-team coach. Grant fills the role vacated at St Andrew's by Roy Aitken, who last week left the Barclays Premier League club to link up with David O'Leary at United Arab Emirates outfit Al Ahli.

Birmingham have appointed former Norwich City manager Peter Grant as first-team coach.

Grant fills the role vacated at St Andrew's by Roy Aitken, who last week left the Barclays Premier League club to link up with David O'Leary at United Arab Emirates outfit Al Ahli.

Blues boss Alex McLeish told the club's website: “I've known Peter for a long time. He was an adversary of mine in my Aberdeen playing days, when he was a stalwart for Celtic.

“He is a competitive man who has been brought up in a winner's environment due to the traditions of Celtic.

“He has successfully made the transition into becoming a coach and my diligence shows me he is the right man for the job.

“His personality is akin to that of the man we have just lost, Roy Aitken, and that will be a great asset to us.”

Grant played for Celtic, Norwich, Reading and Bournemouth, where he was player-coach.

He left the Cherries in 2004 to become Alan Pardew's number two at West Ham, the pair guiding the Hammers into the Premiership, then to the FA Cup final in 2006.

A 12-month spell as Norwich boss followed in 2006-7 before he became first-team coach at West Bromwich Albion in summer 2008 under the management of Tony Mowbray.

He followed his former Celtic team-mate back to the Glasgow giants last summer for the ill-fated stint back at Parkhead, which ended in their dismissals in March this year.