Birmingham City: Alex McLeish reacts to contract offer news
Dec 26 2009 by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail
ALEX McLeish has reacted positively to Blues’ offer of a new contract, telling Carson Yeung: ‘I’m your man’.
McLeish has just 18 months left on his present deal and the board, aware he could become an attractive proposition to rival clubs, vowed he would be going nowhere.
Peter Pannu, Blues’ acting chairman when Vico Hui is out of the country, said McLeish could stay for ‘as long as he wants’ and that Yeung ‘loves Alex’.
The plan is to open negotiations at the campaign’s end, on the understanding that Blues have maintained their Premier League status.
“When I signed my contract, it was with a determination to prove myself in England,” said McLeish, who quit Scotland to move to Blues in November 2007.
“I’m not saying that’s a done job yet, I still believe you have to prove yourself every week, whether as a player or a manager.
“The financial aspect was never uppermost in my mind when I did the deal with the previous owners. Money wasn’t the be-all and end-all.
“I just wanted to get that foot in the Premier League at a club like Birmingham, where the challenge excited me.
“Now, there’s 18 months to go. It has all gone that fast I haven’t even thought about it, to be honest.
“I believe we have built a nice little team here and now it’s about making us stronger for the next phase of our development.
“I’d like to be the man at the helm, to help stabilise us and progress our future into becoming a regular Premier League side, so it’s very nice to hear what Peter Pannu has said.”
McLeish explained how and why he persuaded Yeung that there was no need to blow all of the pledged £40 million in the January transfer window and that the signature superstar additions to the ranks could wait.
Eck said he was loathe to pay inflated prices and had to be sure he would get the right quality and character for any outlay – not that he would shy away from spending big.
“I have now had a couple of meetings with Carson and we get on very well,’’ said McLeish.
‘‘We have the same vision and ambition for Birmingham.
“I don’t want to waste his or the club’s money. Part of me is saying ‘okay, I know I’m going to maybe have to take one or two in who would massively uplift the wages but down the road I’ve got to think about Birmingham City as well’.
‘‘Maybe I am looking too far ahead, I don’t know.
“But I’ve seen what’s happened to a club like Schalke, who really went for it and now are a couple of hundred million in debt.
“In the conversations I’ve had with Carson, he was happy the way we are thinking things through like that. You can’t build a house from the roof.
“Now I know that if we are going to be a regular, serious Premier League team you have to bring in better quality players and that means you have to pay more money in fees and wages.
“The Premier League is where it’s at, and you have to be prepared for that.
‘‘I’m aware we have to be looking at those upper amounts, at the moment it’s just about trying to structure and balance it and making sure we get players who fit into a very strong dressing room.”
