AGM aggro, part two

Next year, there could be a bigger audience at the Blues AGM considering the way things have been going.

They have usually been quite lame affairs under the present regime.

That changed in 2008 when Carson Yeung called an EGM and tried to gain representation on the board (he still hasn't got it and, as far as we know, isn't too fussed).

To avoid critical scrutiny, the Kumar brothers famously held an AGM at their company headquarters in Manchester . . . starting at 9.30am.

And Ken Wheldon was the master of cutting short the 'any questions from the floor' section before it had even got started.

This week, Karren Brady had her hands full when the brickbats came thick and fast from around 70 shareholders at the AGM in the Gold Suite.

The feeling in the room, according to one long standing fan, was that "the club hasn't performed, the players haven't performed, we have been made a laughing stock by the players who are coming in".

"It's the worst state we've ever been in," he added, which brought some chuckles from those who can remember the dar, dark, dard - very dark - days.

"We are not in a state, we are still second in the table, in a very good position," responded Brady, who spearheaded a £4.4 million profit on a turnover of £49.78 million during Blues last relegation season, according to the accounts that were on show.

Manager Alex McLeish was target for many, but Brady also got it in the neck.

One shareholder basically said she didn't understand football and Blues needed an ex-professional to carry out an audit on "all our facilities because frankly if you have second rate facilities, you have a second rate team".

There has been a continuous deterioration in regard to the infrastructure, he claimed. "Put football back into the boardroom, other clubs make us look awful."

This shareholder seemingly had some kind of inside knowledge. Wast Hills was a "vegetable patch" and impossible to train on.

In the dressing rooms at St Andrew's, the players have to use an electric fire because there is no heating. No wonder we have so many players injured, he said.

"One of the players has actually said that there is no point in practising passing there [Wast Hills] because you can't practice on a vegetable patch." Cracking stuff from his Deep Throat.

Brady bristled. "We haven't had a single complaint from the management staff about heating," she said. "Whoever is telling you that is not telling you the truth."

As for the "vegetable patch" training pitches, Brady said: "I actually find that quite offensive to the people who work here so hard.

"We have a dedicated team of people to look after these pitches.

"The pitches at Wast Hills are heavy, that's the word they've been describe to me as.

"They have always been like that, despite the fact we have spent £40,000 on drainage. We have a £750,000 state-of-the-art indoor area, brand new changing rooms, gym and equipment."

You should really give it some thought, an audit, said our would-be whistle-blower. "It should be looked at by someone who understands football." Ouch!

"With all due respect I have been here 16 years and I do understand football," retorted the MD.

"If I had seen some evidence that the players had been training on a vegetable patch, I would have done something about it."