Birmingham City players were concerned by uncertainty

Dec 5 2007 By Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail

DAMIEN Johnson today revealed Birmingham City players were concerned about the mess the club had recently plunged itself into.

But they have come out of an unsettling period with an excellent manager, Johnson said.

Reflecting on Steve Bruce's exit, Johnson noted: "It got to a situation where something had to give. There was uncertainty surrounding him and uncertainty surrounding the takeover.

"It was all getting very messy. Ultimately the club either had to commit to Steve or else he was probably going to leave and the latter happened.

"The club has done well in attracting someone like Alex McLeish.

"It's always worrying in a situation when you are in between takeovers if someone was going to be that interested [in the job], a high-calibre manager, and I think the club have been lucky.

"Hopefully everything settles down now. It doesn't affect the players too much really but it has certainly been a messy couple of months.

"This thing with the takeover has dragged on. You hope this guy comes in and makes decisions or doesn't come in at all.

"Hopefully now, with the new manager in, everyone can settle down and start talking about the football."