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The Season Ahead Part Three : Birmingham City

Published by Ian John on August 26, 2009

Birmingham City
Prospects for 2009 :
It’s been a revolving door at St Andrews over the summer with no less than nine new players brought in and a host of others leaving the club permanently or on loan. Clearly Alex McLeish feels he needs to improve the quality and depth of his squad for a new Premiership season. Though one wonders if the fading talents of Lee Bowyer and Barry Ferguson, plus the Premiership inexperience of Roger Johnson, Scott Dann, Giovanny Espinoza and Christian Benitez, smacks less of good management and more of desperation. Joe Hart’s loan signing from Man City looks good business however and he should get plenty of practice behind what looks like an inexperienced back line.

2009 is a big season for :
Christian Benitez : The Ecuadorian striker has moved to St Andrews from Mexican side Santos Laguna, for an initial fee of £7.7m. Blues fans will be hoping the striker can replicate the form shown by compatriots Wilson Palacios and Luis Antonio Valencia in the Premiership and score the goals needed to give Birmingham every chance of avoiding the drop. It’s a lot of money McLeish has paid for someone who is not proven in the Premiership and Benitez will have to start quickly before the pressure begins to really build on him.

Guaranteed to irritate in 2009 :
Well David Sullivan and Karren Brady are always good for a sound bite or two. Just don’t let them near the club accounts. Sullivan has an uncanny knack of irritating almost everyone who has some vested interest in the club and he has been unusually quiet of late. Something he may no doubt wish to rectify now the club are back in the big time. Lee Bowyer and Barry Ferguson are an interesting pair. Bowyer was once the bad boy of English football until Joey Barton turned up and Ferguson is no stranger to controversy having been banned from playing for Scotland. They’ll no doubt get under the skin of many opposing fans. Finally the screaming banality of blues fans hatred for Aston Villa will no doubt spill over, once again, into some highly questionable behaviour during their local derby games. Get a grip chaps. Hatred isn’t worth it and neither is bigotry. Just remember Peter Enckelman and you’ll feel nothing but happiness, joy and pity for your rivals and you’ll be all the better for it.

Things they’ll moan about in 2009 :
I fully expect to hear complaints from Birmingham staff and board members about how the bigger teams in the Premiership are favoured over the lesser by both officials andthe FA hierarchy. Boo Hoo. I’m also wondering how long it will be before Alex McLeish is coming out to complain that Lee Bowyer is being unfairly booked and treated badly by officials because of his “reputation.” The answer to that to me is quite simple. Don’t be a dick in the past, and you won’t be treated like one in the future.

Song that sums up their chances in 2009 : “Praying for Time” by George Michael
Alex McLeish’s brief will be simply to keep Birmingham in the Premiership for next season. For that he is going to need a quick return on his summer investments. Goals from Benitez, clean sheets from Hart, Danns and Johnson plus strong midfield displays from Ferguson, Bowyer and the talented Larsson. If he gets it, they stand a chance, but he won’t, and they’ll go down.

Image Courtesy of *** EamonCurry123 *** on Flickr.com

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