Carsley praises McLeish for spurring Blues players on to promotion

May 5 2009 by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail

ALEX McLeish should receive plenty of plaudits for guiding Blues back to the Premier League.

Lee Carsley, who was made skipper after his move from Everton, said the Blues boss was not faced with a straightforward task.

“I think people should realise how difficult it is to motivate a group of players who have just been relegated,” said the midfielder.

“To pick them up, get confidence back, and then to go on and get them promoted at the first attempt, it’s a fantastic achievement.

“The gaffer has done it his own way, and he has been successful in what he has done.”

Carsley admitted there was a slight hangover initially in the wake of Blues’ Premier League demise.

“Birmingham had just been relegated by a point. I’m sure some would have looked back on the season and thought ‘we should have got a draw there, we should have won there’,’’ he said.

‘‘Definitely for the first couple of months of the season you carry that round with you.

“But we had a fantastic tour in Austria. In pre-season we played well and won games and thank God we got off to the best start the club has ever had. So we did ourselves proud.”