May 2009 Archives

Gareth Southgate got in a pickle before his Middlesbrough side's Premier League demise.

The Boro boss and ex-Villa captain took exception to Alex McLeish's comments about David Wheater.

An intelligent bloke, Southgate probably knew that McLeish wasn't really trying to unsettle Wheater or destabilise an already destabilised team.

And on further reflection of the context of the remarks, he would maybe accept it was all a bit of fluff really.

McLeish was talking in general terms, and used Wheater as a random example of the obstacles Blues were likely to face during their summer search for centre-halves.

Southgate wasn't happy though: "David Wheater is one that we have no intention of letting go. He is a big part of the future of this football club.

"It was at a fans' forum and we've all said more than we should have at them. I'm sure Alex will regret how it has come out. It doesn't help.

"I haven't had any sort of apology on the phone but there you go. You're a bit looser if you're talking to your fans. I'm sure he might regret saying it, but it's irrelevant."

Wheater himself went all goggle-eyed: "The speculation doesn't unsettle me, it's flattering. I saw £9 million mentioned and I was like, 'Flipping heck!'

"It's madness isn't it? But it doesn't really bother me."

It seems that it's a case of not how much you've got, but what you do with it.

That's Alex McLeish's transfer lot this summer.

He has asked the board why won't they give him £30 million - £40 million, the money garnered from the Premier League television agreement.

They countered with the usual tale of Sunderland (£90 million spent over the last two years, still fighting for their lives) and the dark scenario of a Southampton.

Although it wasn't what McLeish wanted to hear, he understood the viewpoint and has decided to just get on with it.

I don't think we should be too surprised. Going on the past, Blues have never shelled out massive amounts per season.

The last time in the Premier League, Steve Bruce spent about £10 million on a collection of new players, including Garry O'Connor, Oliver Kapo, Franck Queudrue and Liam Ridgewell. Stuart Parnaby, Daniel de Ridder and Richard Kingson were added on frees.

Then, in January, McLeish was given £6.5 million for James McFadden and David Murphy. Also, £5 million was made available for Gary Cahill. So that does take us beyond £20 million, in fairness.

So, by that token, I would estimate that he probably has somewhere between £10 million - £15 million to play with, plus any money raised from sales.

Then there are the so-called 'special cases', a player who might tickle the fancy of all concerned.

This is why McLeish told the audience at the Banks's/BRMB Football Forum in Sheldon the other night that, no, he didn't have the wherewithal to splash out £8 million or £9 million on one player, David Wheater was the example in question.

Hence also the move to bring in Bobo Balde for pre-season training with a view to a free transfer. It makes sense considering the circumstances.

Balde, McLeish suspects, still has sufficient mobility and strength. Whether he's rusty, or his hunger has been diluted, he should find out for definite in July.

Balde is not McLeish's prime target for centre-half.

Standard Liege stopper Oguchi Onyewu is someone he has at the top of that list.

McLeish said at the Forum - which can be heard on Friday at 7pm on 1152am Gold - that he wants speed and mobility in the position, as well as know-how.

In essence, this is what he has in mind for his team: "We need players who can take the football, more quality" he said.

"I don't mind a couple of big gorillas at centre-half because that spine is so vital for us.

"So, with another quality midfielder, two, strong and mobile centre-halves, then I think we are getting there.

"If I can find that ultimate striker and the two Davids fancy it, then it's all systems go."

As we know, McLeish wants at least 10 new players through the door come the Premier League kick-off. He was talking in general terms above.

Ideally, he wants to make the squad more athletic and younger as well.

You could be forgiven for thinking that, after an interview that surfaced today, to primarily address the climax to the SPL season, he wants half the Rangers team.

Naturally, he gets asked by journalists north of the border about Kris Boyd, Madjid Bougherra, Barry Ferguson and so on. And Eck replies honestly. However, so often in these instances people still put two and two together and come up with five.

I can't see any of that trio heading to St Andrew's this summer as it stands now. McLeish has other players in mind and judging from the flurry of activity at Wast Hills during the past couple of weeks - it's been like an agents' convention - Blues seem quite a way down the road with a couple of transfers.

Footnote: Standard Liege drew 1-1 at Anderlecht on Thursday night, Oguchi Onyewu playing 90 minutes in front of the watching Alex McLeish.

There's a popular phrase 'big unit' to describe players who are, well, hulkingly big.

And if there was one who it applied to at Blues more than others, it was Radhi Jaidi.

At 6ft 4in tall and wide-bodied, Jaidi provided quite a barrier. Sure he wasn't dainty on his feet and teams always tried to run him down his side.

But when sharp and focused, he was a tough old bear and aerially, he was one of the most dominant centre-halves to wear the Blues shirt. It was if he had a breeze block stuck on his shoulders the way he used to thud balls away.

Jaidi's time at St Andrew's is over after the club decided not to take up the 12-month option on his contract.

It was partly due to cost, partly due to Alex McLeish wanting to freshen it up in the heart of defence.

I caught up with Jaidi on the telephone in Djerba, an island off the coast of his native Tunisia, where the big unit was getting in some big rays.

He was fairly philosophical about his axing although intriguingly didn't rule out returning on a reduced salary deal.

McLeish saw him as back-up for the Premier League, perhaps a decent replacement to come in as and when. But the desire to move on, to find the next Radhi Jaidi overrided any sentiment.

Two seasons ago, Jaidi and Martin Taylor formed the backbone of Blues promotion success.

Jaidi powering onto a corner to connect with the ball was a fearsome sight, and he chipped in with some vital goals that campaign.

In the Premier League, he didn't get much of sniff until the new year. His lack of speed and athleticism was too much of a risk for Steve Bruce.

Circumstance meant that he got an opportunity and, to his credit, during the stretch run he gave his all and produced some performances that merited man-of-the-match as Blues tried to stave off the drop.

The 'Jaidi Jumping Jive' designed at putting off goalkeepers at direct free-kicks always raised a smile, but was also highly effective.

This season, again he started down the grid but forced his way to the front and, although sometimes given a run around by eager strikers, he tended to impose his will on them in the end and come out on top in the personal duels.

Jaidi was a decent bloke, and always an engaging interviewee. His English turn of phrase was quirky but at the same time endearing.

His sentences tended to never end, he would pause, think of the right context, and then carry on earnestly making one point and then another.

He always used the word 'concentrate' a lot and it became a bit of a standing joke to guess how many times he would utter it when speaking to the press.

Off the field he admitted he tended to not do much else than sleep, which was perfectly in tune with his laid back personality.

I'd be surprised if there weren't a fair few clubs in the Championship ready to pitch in for Jaidi, a 'big unit' indeed.

Someone said to me the other day that Blues had no player in the PFA Championship team of the season, didn't win a manager of the month or a player of the month award.

But then they got promotion, so they must have done something right.

Fewest goals conceded, fewest losses. More points than Albion who won the title last season. Best record against the best teams.

That someone was Alex McLeish. Not that he was bitter - far from it - just a little miffed that Blues were always seemingly dismissed.

It was probably because they kept on doing what they had to do, they didn't have a startling purple patch.

Wolves won seven games in a row on two occasions early. That gave them the platform to go on and take the top spot, despite a spell of one win in 11 games.

And there was the perception that Blues couldn't string two passes together, unlike my friends at 14th-placed Doncaster Rovers, who were 25 points behind Blues. (let's not go there, eh, they'd only get the wrong end of the stick . . . ).

That said, Blues won the performance of the week for the 2-1 win at Reading. To be fair, it would have been hard not to have given them that one!

Peter Beagrie, Sky Sports Championship expert, often had a downer on Blues. But at least he has seen fit to name two players in his team of the season: Maik Taylor and Lee Carsley.

Predictably, he has been slated for choosing that pair.

Matthew Kilgallon got in, ahead of Liam Ridgewell, who has been an unsung hero in the league's best defence.

Ross McCormack, who snubbed Blues in the summer, was selected too. Take away his penalties, could he have done what Kevin Phillips did?

And if there were signings of the season, what about Stephen Carr and Keith Fahey for 'big spending Birmingham'?

Talking to Carsley this week for an exclusive Blues View interview, he was not happy that Blues didn't play the dashing football everyone wanted. But he was happy that promotion was achieved.

Now it's a case of taking another step forward said Carsley. And so far, from my conversations with McLeish and David Sullivan, there does seem to be a vigour and determination to get the right people in and, more importantly, harmony.

We will be hosting another live web chat on Friday at noon (GMT) to discuss all things Blues.

Do join me on www.birminghammail.net as there sure is plenty to get our teeth into following Blues promotion to the Premier League.

Got into a sort of argument before the Reading showdown with a well known face on satellite television, who happens to be a Blues fan.

"Well, if we do go up, we don't really deserve it," he said.

Excuse me, I replied, you finish where you deserve to finish over a 46-game season.

Why do people think there's always a rain cloud hovering over their and their team's head?

Speaking to Lee Carsley after the promotion-clinching victory, he said he was shocked by the pessimism and air of doom and gloom surrounding Blues after he signed, and this from a local.

It wasn't until he was right in the thick of it did he realise what the atmosphere was like.

So Blues didn't deserve it? Nonsense.

Everyone would have liked them to have scored 100 goals and stormed to the title. But it doesn't happen like that and only three teams in recent years - Sunderland (of Peter Reid, not Roy Keane), Fulham and Reading - have torn it up in the Championship.

Blues got up their way. It wasn't always pretty, in fact it was grim on some occasions, but they were effective and in terms of character and will, they had no peer.

Their success was relative to the league they were in this season. Finishing on 83 points, that was two more than Albion totted up in winning the title last year.

We tend to forget that Blues made their best ever start to a league season when they hit the top in October.

And they ended with the best record against the top-half clubs, and they were the defensive unit, despite various changes for various reasons.

Sheffield United might think they 'deserved' automatic promotion because of their late run (helped along the way by Lee Mason of course). They didn't because Blues, with all the pressure on them at Reading - all the pressure on them all season in fact - got the result.

Reading, the team everyone kept telling us were the best around after bashing both Wolves and Blues away, they 'deserved' it, didn't they? No.

Imagine if Blues had finished the season with five defeats, three draws and just three goals on their home ground in eight games, there would have been hell to pay.

Cardiff City might think they 'deserved' a play-off place after being in the mix for so long and missing out on the last day by just one goal. Tough.

Blues never dropped lower than third position and were only out of the top two for roughly seven weeks, on and off.

The fact that Blues won promotion by scoring the fewest number of goals - 54 - since the Championship started should not be ridiculed but grudgingly admired for it showed that the fundamentals in other departments were strong and constant. Blues were difficult to beat.

Take the Reading match. They lost concentration only once really, just after scoring, and conceded a goal.

Then, as the game boiled to a conclusion, they repelled everything that Reading threw at them. By the end, there were five up front for the Royals; it was never like this in Instanbul, was it, Djimi?!

The age and experience of Blues was often held against them. In fact, it counted for a great deal.

Dave Jones's comments after his Bluebirds blew up struck a chord. They had the opportunity to finish top a few weeks back due to the games in hand they had.

"Where we have fallen short is through a lack of experience and knowledge of how to deal with the situation we found ourselves in," he said.

"Maybe my players have been affected with nerves as well. Perhaps they didn't have the mental strength to see through a promotion campaign."

After the celebrations had died down at the Madejski Stadium, Alex McLeish was quite reflective when he spoke to the media.

He said this season had been 'an absolute ordeal'.

He revealed how much of a burden it was carrying the hopes of so many people and dealing with the demands, criticism, sniping and general 'always look on the dark side of life' attitude.

His comments about his future were also illuminating. He didn't like what he called 'car crash' management, he didn't like having to use the loan system and thinking short-term.

Where Blues go from here, and whether or not McLeish will be able to implement the 'infrastructure' he talked of is going to be decided over these next few fascinating summer months.

Strange, isn't it, that Blues could clinch automatic promotion on Sunday and any feelings of euphoria probably wouldn't last long.

Seen it before, done it before, heard it before, know what's coming . . .

The latest comments by David Gold hardly generate confidence that Blues, if they return to the Premier League, will be anything but plucky scrappers.

"I think the question is not how do you stop yourselves from becoming a yo-yo club but how do you stop yourself from becoming a Leeds, Leicester, Charlton or Southampton,"
the chairman said. "That's more important than saying how you become successful."

Revenue will jump to £50 million on promotion and a significant sum of money, quite simply, has to be made available to address the needs of the team and squad.

Blues fans have heard all the arguments about the need to run a tight ship, being 'lean and mean', balancing 'risk and reward'. They understand all that.

Quite frankly, they - we all - need to be inspired. Nobody is asking for an £80 million Sunderland style-splurge, just that the boat is pushed out a little further than the edge of the harbour.

Look at Fulham. They really should have been relegated instead of Blues last season, but their amazing sequence of results and Blues inability to deliver in the big games at the end meant it was Championship football again at St Andrew's.

In the summer they spent £11 million on Andrew Johnson, £4.8 million on Bobby Zamora, got Mark Schwarzer and, coupled with the quality they already had and the blossoming of a shrewd signing like Brede Hangeland, they're being talked of in terms of European qualification.

And let's not even start on Wigan Athletic.

The manager has to be able to identify the right sort of players, and mould them into an effective unit. His judgement has to be spot on, sure.

Steve Bruce did it in 2002, getting Kenny Cunningham, Robbie Savage, Matthew Upson, Aliou Cisse etc. But that was seven years ago; the landscape has changed.

Those equivalent types of players are quite happy filling up squad spaces in the Premier League. You are looking at £5 million - £6 million as a base figure for a decent perfomer
nowadays. It is also harder to 'land' on someone like Christophe Dugarry, and watch the punt pay off.

But this is a debate for if Blues get there. Reading on Sunday has to be negotiated.

The feeling from Wast Hills today was that Blues are not feeling sorry for themselves after Preston North End, rather angry at messing up like they did.

They have another crack at it. Let's hope then not another crack after that too . . . in the play-offs.