Alex McLeish: I'm loving it at Birmingham City

Feb 18 2010 by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail

“We don’t want to be a one-season wonder. There have been a couple of examples of that in the past.

“The plan is to build this team, this club, and sustain success. That is our vision, Carson’s vision, and I think we are all looking forward positively to the future.”

McLeish, who has 18 months left on his present contract, said although there had been some disappointment at not having brought in more players before the transfer window shut in January, it was not a bone of contention.

“Carson and the board tried to get me everything I asked for. We did try for players, as everyone knows, and it wasn’t anybody’s fault that we didn’t get all those in we would have liked to. Not the board’s fault, not my fault.

“One thing we all felt was that if we were to sign players, it had to be right in terms of taking the club forward.

“There were circumstances against us - the time factor as well - and we had to make sure that the money spent in fees and wages was not going to damage us.

“It’s very doom and gloom at the moment, these financial problems. I saw wee Gordon Strachan the other day make a statement about Middlesbrough’s plight, saying the big-spending era was over.

“We’ve already got in mind players for the summer, we’re down the road with one or two and have others under consideration.

“But we have to progress forward carefully. Listen, we have short-term goals of course. But we also we want Birmingham to become a force for a period of time, not fleetingly.”

Rumours have surfaced that Blues could be in for Mauro Boselli again after a loan bid failed last month.

Before any concrete action is taken on the Estudiantes striker, however, McLeish would want to watch him in action personally and compile much more information than he had to hand in the days leading to the January transfer deadline.