Eck's honour, Fergie's barbs

Alex McLeish takes the plaudits and is praised up by his mentor, Sir Alex Ferguson.

Plus he's also busy in the transfer market trying to spend Carson Yeung's money.

Vibrant and interesting times at Blues.

McLeish received his trophy - the December manager of the month award - for masterminding Blues record-equaling unbeaten run.

He said: "It's with great pride that I accept the Barclays manager of the month award.

"It is a reward for the hard work, dedication and professionalism shown by many people behind the scenes - not least my coaching team, the players, club staff and the supporters.

"This is a pat on the back for everyone at this club who has given their all so far this season but we won't allow it to affect our focus - we know there's still a long way to go and we'll continue to work hard to achieve our aim of staying in the Premier League."

He showed the award off at a snowy Wast Hills just as Ferguson's biting comments about Blues old regime surfaced.

And the Manchester United manager also had some nice words to say about his one-time redoubtable Aberdeen centre-half. They can be found here - as well as David Sullivan's reply.

Eck and Fergie lock horns at St Andrew's on Saturday evening, of course.

Michel should be in the stands watching and Kenwyne Jones will be taking more than a passing interest in how Blues fare.

But how that potential transfer pans out now remains to be seen.

There are strong words coming out of Sunderland and Steve Bruce at present, and if there has indeed been a shift in the sands, it could be that the total package for him has mushroomed alarmingly for Blues.

And incidentally, watching Patrick Vieira's press conference at Manchester City, it struck me that this was the sort of short-term signing Blues would normally try to make in a January window (and it might have been last August, of course).

Instead we have Michel, an up and coming player, not an old lag on a big wedge, and attempts for the likes of Jones, Babel and Aiden McGeady.

Vibrant and interesting, indeed.