Austria calling
This time of year the demands on a manager gets a whole lot tougher.
The scramble to assemble a squad before the transfer window shuts means there's little respite, even on a pre-season tour, where the idea is to get away from it all.
Alex McLeish flew out a couple of days earlier than the Blues squad that arrived here in Westendorf last night.
He had taken in a game in Bern on Friday then watched a four-team tournament, also in Switzerland, the next day before driving south for five hours to meet up with his players.
Sitting there in the team's hotel lounge, for the whole evening his mobile phone was welded to his ear and his Blackberry buzzed constantly as he sought to strike deals, ins and outs.
And, as disclosed in today's Birmingham Mail, he's close to recruiting his third, if not fourth player, of the summer, and two trialists have also been added to the mix.
There was no opportunity to make small talk over a cup of coffee with his management staff; McLeish looked tired and weary, to coin a phrase.
It reminded me of the scene constantly replayed a year ago in Germany when Steve Bruce kept taking calls, for what seemed like every half-an-hour or so, rolled his eyes and answered: 'Mido my friend, how are you?'.
Blues first game was due tonight, against non-leaguers Kirchberg, but the day's heavy rain that has saturated the pitch at Westendorf made the surface unplayable.
Hopefully, the hire car will get myself and our photographer Tim Easthope there tomorrow for the rearranged match in one piece after a first day scare.
It should have been leisurely hour or so drive through the Alpine valleys south east from Salzburg airport to Westendorf.
On the outskirts of Kitzbuhel there was a clunk, then a shredding sound - a tyre had blown out.
It's never happened to me before when I've been driving and it's a pretty scary experience. Fortunately I was travelling on snaking, mountainous roads where speeds had to be kept down.
A longer than it should have been tyre change (we don't get to drive Audis at the Birmingham Mail; now if the hire company had given me a Mini Metro then I would have sorted it in a jiffy) and it was back on the road again.
The scenery was breathtaking, albeit it slightly odd as the cable cars and ski lifts disappearing high into the horizon were not silently working away to a swathing backdrop of snow.
Mind, some people on this trip did genuinely ask whether the hills would be alive with the sound of skiing when a couple of days ago I jokingly said pre-season tours should be held in places like this in mid-January, not July.
Step forward Chris Kershaw, Blues press officer. It had to be gently explained to Chris that around this time of year (summer) the hot orange thing in the sky made it pretty tough . . .
Westendorf is a small place of around 3,500 inhabitants, once a traditional farming village. It's very picturesque, very much geared to both summer and winter holiday seasons.
Yet it was disconcerting to find a grand, Tirolean establishment, all stone-fronted and timber-roofed, bearing the sign 'The Village Pub'. I kid you not.
Purely in the interests of research, I popped in to have a look round. Suffice to say the local tipple, Kaiser Lager, was more Horst Hrubesch than Franz Beckenbauer. I then made my excuses and left, stopping to say a quick 'hello' in the street to Lee Hendrie before retiring to the hotel.
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Colin Tattum - Mail man Colin Tattum’s view of what’s going on at Birmingham City FC.
The Lee Hendrie throw-away at the end should get a few people hot under the collar. Looking forward to comments on the "Keep Right On" site.
Tatts, always enjoy reading your blogs, articles in the mail etc. You are certainly our only credible link to Blues, and therefore we read all your musings with real interest.
However, having read your current blog, whilst I am delighted to here we are close to a 3rd maybe 4th signing (I hope they are worth waiting for now you have warmed us up).
However at the end you mention saying 'hello' to Lee Hendrie. Was this a joke to wind us fans up, or are you being genuine? Only if this rumour turns out to be true, I for one cant see many fans being happy to see him don a Blues shirt!!
KRO Tatts and keep us posted.
Adam aka Kent_Bluenose19
If the Hendrie comment is true then can glue the shredded tyre together and lend him the car.
What did you say hello for!?!?!
You should have pushed him down the mountain!
forget about hendrie tatt's what about this bent rumour.