The Colin Tattum Column: What next for Birmingham City?
That Blues didn’t kick on and were relegated in 2006 was due to a combination of reasons, primarily complacency and taking their eye off the ball. Players were also indifferent, to say the least.
The major benefactors stuffed their hands into their pockets and kept them there for longer, having been spooked by the way the investment in big hitters like Muzzy Izzet, Jesper Gronkjaer, Mario Melchiot, David Dunn and, to a lesser degree, Emile Heskey, turned sour. That transfer window in January 2006 marked a watershed in Blues’ recent fortunes.
They brought in Chris Sutton, DJ Campbell and Martin Lakta. They needed more, much more, to address their needs.
It’s never been the same since then. Ambition, inspiration, excitement and optimism has been replaced by caution, the mundane, pessimism.
There has been conflict, fans have tuned out and the co-owners tried to sell-up. And there’s been the yo-yo effect.
Without question, Blues are run on a sound financial footing. They are unlikely to go belly-up. That is to be applauded.
But they are also stuck in neutral. Which way to go – clunk into reverse, or whack up through the gears?
Interestingly, Karren Brady recently commented that Alex McLeish had not seen the best of Blues’ board.
There was such tension this season due to the fact they had gambled everything on promotion, plus the on-going police revenue investigation.
Well, they have a manager in situ who has not yet been able to give it a go – from summer to summer – in the Premier League.
None of us know exactly what McLeish’s capabilities are at that level.
Should the board remember those heady days of five years past and show him, and the fans, their very best, they might just be pleasantly surprised.
And the club might just be reinvigorated so that the more things change, the more they don’t stay the same.
