Birmingham City, a club that was at death’s door the last time QPR visited, has been given a new lease of life by a brave, inspirational managerial appointment. Matthew Elliott tells us more.
Assess Birmingham’s start to the season for us.
ME: I think even the most positive of Blues fans would say that the start to the season has been beyond our expectations. To be sitting fourth after ten games is incredible.
The side have carried on where they left off last season and we’ve picked up points in games where I really didn’t expect us to. Gary Rowett and his team continue to defy the odds. To be honest with a little bit more luck in one or two games, we could have been top, but that luck could well have gone the other way and we could have been seeing ourselves in the bottom half.
As it is, we’re fourth and despite a couple of blips we are performing extremely well. Whether or not we have the depth of the squad to continue this form throughout the season remains to be seen, but we’ll enjoy it while it lasts.
Last time we visited Birmingham seemed to be circling the drain, on a record run of home defeats with little hope in sight. Given the ongoing boardroom problems, how has Gary Rowett been able to turn this around?
ME: It has been quite a turnaround hasn’t it? He came in and around just under a year ago on the back of the 0-8 home defeat to Bournemouth. The club was at an all-time low, he really had his work cut out.
Gary and his backroom staff have come in and from the off and given the players clear instructions as to what their jobs are and instilled belief in the players. The spirit amongst them is just incredible now — a far cry from how things were under Lee Clark. We might not have the most talented squad of players in the league, but what we do have is a team of players who work very hard for each other and are well organised. Each player understands the role they play in the team and that makes us hard to beat. Yes, we’ve had a bit of luck along the way, but we probably deserve it after the last few years.
The team is set up to play to its strengths, soak up pressure and hit teams on the counter attack. Blues will have long periods without the ball, but when they win it back they more often than not, use it effectively.
Is there a fear that other clubs may follow the genius, and absolutely definitely deliberate, plan of Tactical Tim Sherwood to play deliberately badly in the first half to lull you into a false sense of security before pouncing in the second?
ME: Hahahaha… Is Chris Ramsey likely to take that approach?
I’m not sure anyone else is in Tactics Tim’s league when it comes to luring teams into a false sense of security; he’s set the benchmark and outstanding candidate for the UK’s finest idiot. Honestly, this isn’t a Birmingham v V*lla thing, but I genuinely think this is their year - he’s taking them down. I’d suspect Lee Clark would do a better job with them. If Tim goes, Clark must be a prime candidate for the role.
Speaking of boardroom situation… what’s the latest state of play on that front?
ME: Okay… are you sitting comfortably?
Panos Pavlakis is the man in the driving seat at present. He’s a director and chief executive at the club and whilst he has some links to Carson Yeung, to say they were on speaking terms would be quite far from the truth. He doesn’t work for the parent company Birmingham International Holdings (BIH) though. Ernst and Young have come in to sort the company out - rooting out evidence of corporate malfeasance, sorting out debt and basically getting it back into shape. They are being aided by investment from Trillion Trophy Asia who have entered an exclusivity period and are currently in the process of potentially buying BIH.
Although the Trillion Trophy Asia backers have not been publicly announced to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the extremely diligent and famous Birmingham City blogger, Often Partisan (@oftenpartisan), has found proof that the backer is a gentleman by the name of Paul Suen Cho Hung, a Hong Kong businessman who specialises in fixing broken businesses
The plan is pretty much to get BIH relisted on the HKSE, take action against the main protagonists that have caused the issues (Carson Yeung and Peter Pannu), and then get the club sold. It’s a long process, a very long process, but finally the end is in sight.
Summer transfer activity… who came, who went, how are the new one’s fairing, any you were sorry to see leave?
ME: Things got a bit exciting over the summer, the club spent some actual money. Not a lot, but more than we have done for the past four seasons.
Maikel Kieftenbeld (130k) and Nicolai Brock-Madsen (500k -ish) have arrived from Groningen and FC Randers respectively. We’ve also seen goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak arrive on a free and Jon Toral on a season long loan from Arsenal. With the exception of Brock Madsen, all the players have had a positive impact on the team since their arrival. No fault of Brock’s though, as he has yet to see any real game time due to the form of Clayton Donaldson
A lot of players were released during the summer, but they were not really getting near the team and were clearly not of standard to take us forward. So I wasn’t too upset about anyone going. We still have a few more of those types in the squad, but they’re either out on loan or nowhere near the first team right now, thankfully. I’d say a fair few fans were disappointed to see Diego Fabbrini and Robert Tesche leave after loan periods, but we’ve coped well without them and most fans have forgotten about them now due to the form of other players.
Stand out performers and weak links in the side?
ME: I was asked this recently by somebody else and it’s tough one. It really has been a collective team effort. However, if I had to choose standout performers then Clayton Donaldson is one. He continues to play out of his skin on a weekly basis; he’s really mastered playing the lone striker role in Rowett’s system. Holds the ball up well, brings people in to play and doesn’t stop running. A special mention should go to our midfielders, especially Stephen Gleeson and Maikel Kieftenbeld who have kept it simple, breaking up play and holding us together and kept things ticking over nicely. With regards to weak links, you could say the centre of defence is a bit of a worry, or more so whoever is partnering Michael Morrison, but more often or not the back line have coped well with what has been thrown at them
Short, medium and long term aims for the club?
ME: Work has already been carried out to help achieve the short and medium term aims of the club.
Rowett has made sure that the club has tied a strong core of first team players down to longer contracts so there will be no upheaval of players leaving during the next two summers. We hope Rowett will sign a longer contract soon as well. Realistically, this season, Blues should be aiming to consolidate by carrying on the good work from last season and finish in the top ten, with the aim of sneaking into the play offs. Get the club sold and promotion back to the Premier League will be the long term aims of the club, I just hope we can hold on to Gary Rowett long enough to achieve it.
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Pictures — Action Images