After years of yo-yo mimicking, Birmingham City appeared to consolidate last season. But with Newcastle United and Blackpool grabbing 2010/11 by the knackers after promotion, Chris Nee says Blues have a fight on their hands once again. Is Alex McLeish a bad manager all of a sudden? It’s a little bit more complicated than that.
When Scotland manager Alex McLeish resigned in November 2007 in order to join Birmingham City in spite of the SFA initially refusing him permission to discuss a contract with the club, the spotlight remained on his predecessor. Steve Bruce’s achievements were often overlooked and in the end it was Carson Yeung’s takeover of the club that sealed the end of his time at St. Andrews. Yeung, then not yet the owner, refused to sanction a new contract for Bruce and so the lure of Premier League football was to become a temptation that McLeish couldn’t ignore. City were relegated at the end of the 2007/08 season.
It is to Bruce’s credit that supporters of a relegated Birmingham City now demand that their team bounce back into the Premier League at the earliest opportunity. While bigger clubs have finished below the dreaded dashed line and failed to gain promotion, Blues fans have become accustomed to it and McLeish was instantly under pressure. I personally felt that Birmingham would have stayed up with Bruce at the helm, and McLeish had a job to do to win over the fans.
Previously a highly-rated Scotland manager, McLeish had dropped into the Championship with a side that needn’t have been relegated. By the time City lost their first game in the second tier - a loss to Blackpool at the end of September - the expectations were clear. “If I was a supporter I’d have booed as well,” was McLeish’s diplomatic and indicative response to the low point of his second city career.
Birmingham lost eight more matches in the Championship that season, leaving them with the lowest number of defeats in the division and a second-placed finish to take them back into the top flight. In 2009/10, McLeish won praise from all quarters for a season that saw his side finish in ninth and enjoy a long unbeaten run. Major positives included the form of Roger Johnson in defence and Joe Hart in goal, the fact that Cameron Jerome began to look comfortable as a Premier League forward and a resilience that the side had rarely possessed in the top division.
The beginning of what was a superb season for Blues hadn’t all been sweetness and light, though. Supporters had been vocally critical of their manager as early as September, and despite their good finish a troubling 2010/11 season so far has put the Scot back in the firing line.
So, is McLeish suddenly a bad manager? On the face of it, 2009/10 could be a blip. McLeish took Birmingham down in his first partial season and will face a battle against the drop again this term. But the great season in between should not be taken in isolation. Guiding his side from the second division into the top half of the Premier League in two campaigns is a worthy achievement and there’s plenty more to be said for the manager.
McLeish is, first and foremost, an arch-pragmatist. His team is physical, hard-working and organised. Over the years he’s brought in players who’ve added steel and quality to his side, notably building a defence that has at times been the scourge of the best frontmen in the league. And while a section of Blues supporters might not like it, there are upwards of 15 teams in the Premier League these days who must be pragmatic in order to tread water. 4-5-1 is not some forbidden formation from Hell; sometimes, it’s just sensible.
The Birmingham boss has also looked to add guile to his arsenal. Alex Hleb is a talented player who would have been an attractive prospect to many clubs. Last season, the signing of Christian Benitez indicated a willingness on McLeish’s part to add a flair player or two to the mix. What it also suggests is that McLeish has not, perhaps, mastered that art just yet. With Jerome not firing on all cylinders, this season has seen Birmingham look worryingly toothless in a way that will be all too familiar to fans.
With one relegation, one promotion, one excellent season and a mixed bag of signings to his name, Alex McLeish hasn’t turned bad overnight. After taking the initial hit of relegation in 2008, it’s been a largely positive progression, give or take the odd duff transfer. The second half of this season will prove the real test of McLeish’s abilities. The Premier League is a difficult place to survive and even more so when a manager has seemingly made a rod for his own back by succeeding previously.
Fortunately for the current Birmingham boss, he has a team that will battle from first whistle to last and a handful of players capable of providing that incisive bit of quality that could be so crucial. What is perhaps missing is someone to put the ball in the net, a problem that has arguably dogged Birmingham sides since their initial rise to the Premier League in 2002.
Tags: Alex McLeish, Birmingham City, Managers
Nice piece Chris.
I think AM has been a victim of a) an “unappealing” style and b) his own success.
He has made some shrewd additions, irrespective of their performance in hindsight.
Last night was a huge three points for them, and I now expect them to pull away from “the W’s” at the bottom and be comfortable in lower mid-table before long ahead of the likes of Newcastle and Blackpool.
4 points from United (h), Arsenal (h) and Blackpool (a) in the space of a week is actually a great haul.
Check out this piece I did on Birmingham’s position just prior to the festive period, hopefully you will like it:
http://betoftheweek.net/2010/12/why-birmingham-city-will-definitely-stay-up/
That home form is just too good to really criticise, even if their number of draws is a touch high.
Cheers
p.s. And if CY puts his hand in his pocket to bring in Robbie Keane… you might be writing a whole new piece on McLeish come May.
Having a group of players that battle for 90 minutes is not down to ‘fortune’. It’s down to a careful judgement of character that means everyone pulls in the same direction.
It won’t win Birmingham the league but it will certainly consolidate their position without risking silly money.
yes the problem is scoring goals. but we have never been blessed with goalscoring talent. if you look at blues history, the last player to score 20 or more goals in a league season was steve claridge way back in the early 90s, before that you have to go back to trevor francis. it is like when strikers come to birmingham, they forget how to score, then when they move on they score for fun (look at benitez back in mexico now).
unless we can find someone who will score regular for us, i do fear the worst for the 2nd half of the season.
it just seems like AM can pluck out players from the english league, but when he tries to go on to the continent or further a field, he’s clueless. hleb, zigic, beausejour, benitez, espinoza all came with big reputations and have all failed to live up to their billing\price tags.
There are many worse managers in the Premiership than AM,& I strongly disagree that SB would have kept Blues up. Tactically AM is far more aware. The signing of Zigic is the biggest blot on his Blues’ career,& may come to haunt him. I realise that Zigic plays international football, but I am concerned that our scout has seen anything in him to recommend signing him & AM for agreeing. 18 months ago Kevin Doyle,who had done well for Reading in the Premiership was apparently signed for similar money.Despite this I respect AM for his integrity,his honesty & for having made an excellent back five.To stay up though,despite the win at Blackpool, the need for a striker to be signed,& quickly is imperative.
I don’t buy into the whole ‘Steve Bruce did a great job while at Blues’ argument. He relegated us twice. Okay, I know you will come back with the rejoinder that he also got us promoted twice, but anything less than instant promotion with the budget at his disposal (by far and away the highest enjoyed by any manager in the Championship) would have been criminal.
I recall the season we went down under McLeish after Bruce had left for Wigan. We were an utter shambles under SB, we were curtains, no doubt about it.
As Alan has said above, AM is light years ahead of Bruce tactically. We need a striker, but then the whole of the league bar 4 or 5 are looking for one of those.