Window shopping

Here's a question: if Carson Yeung has refused to say how much money Blues had to spend in January when he took over, what would we be all thinking right now?

Just not sure, what have they got to hide, something fishy to me etc. . . ?

That Yeung did reveal the '£20 million (dramatic pause) to £40 million' at his press conference was in part a mistake (never let the sellers know how much the buyers have to play with) and in part refreshing openness, a statement of intent caused by excitement perhaps.

I gather it was not in his original brief to quote figures.

What's happening now is that Alex McLeish is being questioned because he hasn't yet spent the £40 million, or is likely to, which, in my view, is a bit daft.

There are a few things to remember.

First, it's up to £40 million to include wages.

Second, Blues superb first-half of the season has lessened the need to go charging in, gamble on a player or two and basically panic because you fear the relegation trapdoor.

Third, the January market has changed, and Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger both say there is no value to be had in it at present.

Fourth, the days of getting an Upson for £750,000, a Clemence for £500,000, a Clapham for £1 million, a Coly for . . . no, scrub that one . . . have gone.

Even a Savage, a Cunningham say; the equivalent sort of players are sitting tight and happy in burgeoning Premier League squads and not available, or don't want to be available.

A bog standard Premier League player costs £5 million now, plus minimum £15,000 - £20,000-a-week wages.

Fifth, attracting players to Blues is still a tough sell. Edin Dzeko, aside from the £18 million asking price - if not double that, if you believe some reports - has his sights set on bigger fish. Milan Jovanovic wants to run his contract down to join AC Milan in the summer.

Then you have Kevin Kuranyi, who would like to take home £70,000-a-week net. I was asked a month ago by a Blues director was he worth paying that much.

It's a minefield in January and Blues eighth place in the table and 32-point haul has brought McLeish and the club welcome breathing space.

Blues have a better chance of signing better players in the summer when the transfer kitty, a large chunk having not been blown this month, would enable McLeish to flex more muscle. And the range of players available is greater.

He has put great store in not upsetting the dressing room with dubious characters on big money and fair enough. As I have written before, the esprit de corps is the best it has been since the first promotion to the Premier League in 2002.

But, when push comes the shove, McLeish knows he is going to have to assimilate big earners who have come for big fees if Blues want to maintain their status and progress over time.

That's when it's going to be a test of his judgment and how to man-manage such players and the rest. In that respect, he has dealt with egos at Rangers and run a national team. And there are some strong characters about at Wast Hills too, but he has them all singing from the same hymn sheet.

Sometimes you can be perhaps critical of Eck in that he wants it just so, the sure thing. His diligence is very meticulous. His contacts book is vast, believe me, and he is very well connected in foreign circles. He will ask himself 'is he really better, is he really an improvement?' and counsel many opinions.

The canny Scot in him, maybe, yet better that than a Harry Redknapp style scatter gun approach?

With a club like Celtic looking at £10 million for an Aiden McGeady, he is just going to have to bite the bullet at some stage and shell out the £6 million, or £8 million, or more and so on.

It's the going rate and if Yeung and the owners are happy to pay that - and can sustain the club on such lines - for a player McLeish thinks is the right quality and type, then do it. Across the road at V***a, Martin O'Neill regularly likes to whack out such sums on full-backs who then don't always see the light of day.

McLeish isn't afraid of spending heavy in one hit, don't subscribe to that contrary theory, even though throughout his career he has had to balance the books and his largest outlay was £6 million for Mikel Arteta.

His comments on the subject on Boxing Day made for interesting reading.

And I am sure it will come, the club record transfer fee will go, if not in this window then in July or August.

Yeung and his board have accepted that now is not the time for 'trophy' signings, who would generate PR but maybe not as many points you might expect.

Again, Blues league position has helped in that respect, and good on them for listening and letting the manager manage. He deserves that after what he went through last season, and soaked it all in like a sponge with quiet dignity.

McLeish needs to slowly but surely beef up the quality and depth of the squad, which won't happen overnight.

I suspect that the major signing(s) will come in the summer and this month it will be about adding solid building blocks.

Go through the team and the roster and it's clear that, eventually, he needs to be securing the next Barry Ferguson, Lee Bowyer, Stephen Carr.

Kevin Phillips, Lee Carsley, Franck Queudrue, Damien Johnson, Marcus Bent, perhaps Gary McSheffrey, Martin Taylor, Garry O'Connor and Maik Taylor, aren't going to be around in 18 months, if not six.

That's why, at present, Michel not Michelangelo is heading to St Andrew's. That's why Kris Boyd has been considered again, as a squad player, not a prime target (although he is likely to stay put until his contract expires in June by all accounts).

Blues need to walk before they can run and that's why no-one should feel let down if McLeish doesn't spend £40 million - it's not obligatory and hardly realistic in January anyway.