Birmingham City: Why Alex McLeish won't enter a war of words with Karren Brady

Mar 9 2009 by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail

Brady did make it clear to shareholders that McLeish still retained the board’s support, and she praised his qualities and commitment to guide Blues to Championship promotion.

But his future would be reviewed in the summer and McLeish, asked about the state of their relationship in the wake of the AGM and the latest newspaper column, and whether he felt he was being undermined, played a flat bat.

He responded: “I’m only going to talk about the football, that is my side of it.

“I’ve got a team full of spirit, full of confidence, they are all pulling for each other. The coaches, we’re all pulling for each other out on the training ground.

“I’ve got to say that we will keep working on the players’ morale. Morale is fantastic, my job is to give them morale, give them confidence and I’m not going to talk about anything external, other than the lads that are doing so well for us.”

As for the squad, McLeish – who has nine on the injured list – said: “I think there’s more to it than just 36 players.

“When I looked at the Southampton squad, side-by-side, on Saturday I think there was the same number of players listed.

“I guess we’re all in the same boat. It was important that we brought in Ulises because we were down to four defenders.

‘‘What can you do? If the loan system is there then I think you’ve got to try to use it.”