Stephen Carr set to sign new Birmingham City contract
Birmingham City are close to finalising a contract with Stephen Carr that will keep the defender at St Andrew’s until the summer of 2011.
Carr made an astonishing comeback after deciding to retire at the start of the season, when he failed to get fixed up with a club of his liking.
After Blues loaned Stephen Kelly to Stoke City and were unable to bring in a right-back on loan from the Premier League, Carr arrived at Wast Hills to train.
With Stuart Parnaby injured, Sebastian Larsson had to fill-in for four games as Blues assessed Carr’s condition.
He was signed on a month’s deal initially, made his debut at Crystal Palace on February 24, and went on to play a major part in Blues promotion from the Championship.
Because the 32-year-old fromer Ireland international has been so impressive - and shown no signs of a hamstring injury that bothered him during the last days of his spell at Newcastle United - Blues knew they had to act fast once their fate was sealed.
Clubs in the Premier League perked up and expressed an interest.
But Blues have been in talks with Carr and his representative since the glory of the Reading victory on Sunday and an agreement has been reached in principle.
Manager Alex McLeish admitted that Carr had been one of the ‘finds’ of the season.
