One more relegation for newly promoted Birmingham City FC and they will well and truly be tarred with the dreaded Yo-Yo club brush. As a result the Blues, guided by the much maligned Alex McLeish, will be doing their utmost to ensure they stay in the Premier Division. 

A busy summer in the transfer market strengthening all areas of their team should help to achieve this but regardless of who Birmingham buy the main question, which is asked of all newly promoted teams, remains; Will they be good enough to stay in the Premier League?

We won’t know this until the season starts but no matter what happens I’m sure that the blues will keep right on to the end of the road…

The Statistics

Taking a look at Birmingham City’s statistics from last season and its glaringly obvious where their strengths (and weaknesses) lie. The Bluenoses spent their time in the stands watching over the most Ebenezer Scrooge like defence in the Championship conceding only 37 goals in 46 games and keeping 17 clean sheets in the process. Whereas as at the other end they were about as likely to score as the Elephant Man at an alcohol free nightclub, putting away a pitiful 54 goals compared to Burnley’s 72 and the champions Wolves 80. The number of 1-0 wins – 10 – tells its own story.

Despite this apparent lack of fire power it is worth noting  that in head to head of games against the other promoted teams last season, Birmingham came away with the best record. With two draws against Burnley and a win at home and draw away from home against Wolves, were the teams to have played out a mini league amongst themselves, Birmingham City would have found themselves top of the pile. Put that in your pipe and smoke it Wolves!

So if we break down the stats;

This indicates that the blues are, like most teams, better at turning draws into wins at home. It also shows that last season they managed to grind out plenty of draws away from home, most likely due to their strong defensive stability. The concern from these stats though is that at home, the Blues scored just 30 times, even less than bottom club Charlton Athletic managed at the Valley.

The Manager

Alex McLeish has been given a second bite of the proverbial cherry after relegation in his first season in the Premier League with Birmingham and, by taking the club straight back up, Big Eck (as he’s known in some quarters) justified the board’s decision to keep him on. McCleish has managed at the highest level in Scotland, guiding Glasgow Rangers to a league championship before becoming the Scottish national team coach. He was in charge there for a year before, with a desire to challenge himself in England, jumping ship to become the boss of then, Premier League Birmingham City.

Indeed his experience managing in Glasgow should stand him good stead for the upcoming season particularly in comparison to promoted rivals. Managing a team in a Glasgow derby should prepare him for hostile visits to Villa park and dalliances at big four grounds. Added to this the experience of playing under a young Alex Ferguson when at Aberdeen and managerially Alec McLeish has all the ingredients to be successful.

Certainly one thing he can be credited with was the blues miserly defence in their year in the Championship. This was obviously to the detriment of their attack and led to McLeish receiving criticism from some of the fans. As Liam Ridgewell said in an interview with FourFourTwo;

“As a defender in his playing days, Alex McLeish wanted to ensure we were solid from back to front, so we could go into every game confident of not conceding. That didn’t sit well with some supporters, who wanted us to play a more expansive game at times”

Certainly McLeish made them hard to beat by making the team work hard to protect their goal. Indeed many of the fans would argue that though they had a good defensive record, they didn’t have a particularly good defence. This is something that McLeish has looked to improve by spending heavily in defensive positions. Needless to say if the new signings click and they can keep this work rate up then they could be this season’s Stoke; tight at the back, not overly prolific at the other end.

McLeish in his season in the championship tended to use the 4-4-2 formations in the majority of games. There were variations at times to a 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 and near the end he focused on a variant of 4-4-2 with a narrowed midfield,  the addition of Keith Fahey in particular offering width;

“we narrowed the midfield,”

“For me, that was the tactical change that got us automatic promotion from the Championship.”

The pitch at St Andrew’s meant Blues couldn’t pass their way through, they had to get it forward into the channels quickly, so a more base, pressuring style was adopted. But these were formations to combat your Charlton’s and Southampton’s and not the Manchester United’s and Arsenal’s of this world. When asked whether they would look to move away from the 4-4-2 that served them well last season McLeish responded

“Not every game, but I think we might have to be flexible,”

Personally I think it’s more than likely that a 4-5-1 formation would be used at this level to try and plug the midfield and make them hard to beat. This was the formation implemented in a recent friendly against Stuttgart which McLeish felt worked well according to reports. Judging from the lack of goals last season and indeed this pre-season, fans might be better off purchasing a tin of Dulux and a paint brush and watching the results dry.

The Promoted Squad

Of the three teams promoted, namely Wolves, Birmingham City and Burnley, Birmingham City are the only team with decent Premier League experience. Most of their players have competed in the top division either with Birmingham the season before last or were recruited with Premier League experience. Compare that with a young Wolves team of whom only Doyle, Hannerman and to a lesser extent Halford have ever played in the Prem and a Burnley team who’ve not graced the top division since 1976 and you can see that Birmingham have this, albeit slight, advantage over their promotion rivals. As defender Liam Ridgewell stated;

“We have a squad full of players who have plenty of Premier League experience and no doubt the manager will make further signings in the summer to strengthen the squad”

Ridgwell was correct to predict the addition of players with McLeish adding a further 7 players to the squad already. However it is useful to consider the players used last season to give us some idea of who will likely figure in the upcoming Premier League season.  

With regards to the promoted squad  its a case of treading carefully really. If one were to take a glance at appearances it would indicate that Maik Taylor would be stick on in goal behind Jaidi and Ridgewell at the heart of the defence. However City have brought in Joe Hart, who I don’t think was brought into make up the numbers, Ridgewell has a broken leg and Jaidi has been released. What it does suggest is that when fit Ridgewell will be at the heart of the defence alongside one of the new signings (who I will talk about more later).

Looking at the midfield Larsson, Carsley and Bouzza made the most appearances. Bouazza, who was on loan, has returned to Fulham but the other two would look like being stick on starters. Larsson is the primary set piece taker, along with Fahey and McFadden on occasions, despite grumblings from the fan’s about his set piece taking ability not being Premier Division quality. Carsley, as acting captain in absence of Damien Johnson, would likely line up in the centre of midfield alongside new signing Barry Ferguson.

Turning  to the forwards it would appear that Jerome would go head to head with Benitez for a lone striker role with Mcfadden either playing off them or in midfield. I would suggest that Phillips and O’Conner will make fleeting appearances from the bench with Marcus Bent either being offloaded or used sparingly. With regards to the taking of penalties it is difficult to fathom who is the designated penalty taker –  James McFadden seems to take the majority, but it can vary depending on who is on the pitch at the time.

New Signings

Of the newly promoted teams Birmingham City have been the most prolific in the transfer market signing 7 new players. So what can we make of these signings?

Joe Hart

The England Under-21 international has joined City for the 2009-10 campaign from Manchester City and will be looking to cement a first team place in order to challenge for one of Capello’s World Cup goalkeeping slots. However, unfortunately for Joe, this may not be as guaranteed as first thought. McCleish has in public stated he is by no means first choice at St Andrews;

“Joe comes in and it will be a fantastic competition between him and Maik, two great goalkeepers. He obviously hasn’t come in to sit on the bench but I am not making any guarantees, it’s as simple as that.”

Despite the ominous undertones contained within this quote I’d suggest that this is merely a manager keeping his players on their toes and that ultimately Joe Hart’s quality and potential will see him establish himself as Birmingham’s number one goalkeeper this season. Indeed, should it emerge that Taylor remains as number one, it begs the question  – why sign Hart in the first place? And also why would Hart go without assurances that he wouldn’t get the number one jersey? It’s one thing playing second fiddle to Shay Given and quite another to Maik Taylor.

Roger Johnson

This tall, hardworking centre-back with a sexually attractive wife has recently been added to strengthen the already watertight Blues defence.  During his 44 games wearing the Wales jersey he managed to bag 5 goals and 4 assists and his record for Cardiff is equally impressive seeing him net 5 goals in the each of the past two league campaigns. Therefore, whilst there may not be as many clean sheets as Birmingham would be used to in the Championship, with Johnson’s goal threat there is always the chance of extra pointage.

Scott Dann

Scott Dann signed for Birmingham City on 12 June 2009 for an undisclosed fee thought to be in the region of £4m. A tall, commanding central defender, Dann has represented England at under 21 level and has been tipped for a big future in the game, captaining Coventry City during the 08/09 season. From a Fantasy football perspective it would look as though he would be in direct competition with Espinoza and Taylor to partner Johnson at the heart of City’s defense and would be a risky purchase until it becomes clear on McLeish’s favoured pairing. Unfortunately this young man is currently an injury doubt with a thigh muscle strain so if you’ve got him in your team at the moment – take him out!

Giovanny Espinoza

Ecuador international defender Giovanny Espinoza was secured from Barcelona Sporting Club in his homeland for an undisclosed amount. The centre-half, who has amassed more than 80 caps for his country and appeared in two World Cups, was brought in to add competition for places at the back alongside other new signings Johnson and Dann and the already present Martin Taylor and Liam Ridgewell 

“It’s a new step in my football career and I hope I can help the team. I think I can bring experience to the defence as I’ve played a lot of games at club level and for the national team.”

Despite this, according to reports in a well known tabloid, Espinoza was not a signing authorised by McLeish but in fact made by the board. Though the reports should be taken with a bucket load of salt it does add a worry over a player who is already competing with four other defenders for two defensive slots. Another one with a thigh muscle strain – take him out of your team if you’ve got him!

Barry Ferguson

A player who McLeish knows well from his time with Rangers and Scotland, Barry Ferguson signed for Birmingham City for a reported £1.25 million during the summer. A hard working central midfielder he should add some steel and experience to the centre of Birmingham’s midfield. From a fantasy league perspective however he’s not the sort of player who is going to be a huge point scorer and at £5m on FPL he’s quite frankly a waste of time compared to players in the same price range.

Lee Bowyer

This incredibly likeable attacking midfielder signed for the blues on a free transfer after his contract with West Ham expired. Spending last season on loan at St Andrews he obviously impressed McLeish enough to earn a contract with the club. If we were playing fantasy football 8 or so years ago he’d have been in my team, now he’s the sort of player i’d put in a mates team to stitch him up. It’s perhaps telling that his goals and red cards for the season are identical sitting at one. Give him a miss.

Christian Benitez

The best bet is to have a look at the article written by yours truly on this striker. Personally I think he will do well for Birmingham if, and that’s a big IF, he gets the service. He’d most certainly be on my watchlist if it wasn’t for an injury which looks likely to keep him out of the start of the season.

The Watchlist

So from those players briefly mentioned in the Squad and new signings i’ll give you a brief outline of players i’ll be keeping my eyes glued on – not literally of course.

Joe Hart

At £4.0 million in the FPL game and 2.9 in TFF he could well prove to be either a great back-up goalkeeper or certainly one of two cheap options to rotate. From an FPL perspective, by considering the Birmingham stopper you will be buying into Birmingham’s defensive solidarity, at a low price. There’s also the possibility that Birmingham may often be on the back foot and, as a result, see an increased number of saves by the England Under 21 keeper. As mentioned the best bet would appear to be as a number 2 or rotated with another cheap goalkeeper (Sorensen springs to mind) based on fixtures.

Roger Johnson

At £4.5m in FPL he is priced slightly higher than his defensive counterparts but this, I feel, reflects the increased goal threat you get from the former Cardiff City defender. The only mild concern is that Birmingham’s priority this summer appears to be strengthening their defence which has seen them add Espinoza, Dann and Johnson to the already present Ridgewell and Martin Taylor in the centre back positions. Ridgewell has a broken leg however and will be out for some time, but the other four will have to duke it out for the final spot.

Sebastian Larsson

The former Arsenal trainee is remembered by many for his spectacular goal scored against Tottenham in 2007. However for Sheffield Wednesday fans (including myself) we remember with more distain a rather irritatingly good goal he scored against us earlier that year. Valued at £5.0 million he’s a  bargain midfielder who, as shown, has got a spectacular goal in him. Certainly at this price there doesn’t appear to many better choices than the hardworking Swede. The main reason for his selection in these picks however isn’t his goal scoring threat but the fact that he takes a large number of Birmingham’s set pieces. Set plays have often proven to be the most consistent method of scoring for the promoted teams and I don’t expect Birmingham to be any different, particularly given their lack of creativity in midfield. His supply should hopefully set up both R.Johnson and a certain Mr Benitez (no, not Rafa)

Conclusion

Well there you have it – the low down on Birmingham City Football Club from a fantasy football perspective. If you take anything from this, or you’ve skipped to the last paragraph because you couldn’t be bothered to read this tomb of an article (no one blames you) my tip would be  simple – for those considering any of the Blues strikers or midfielders, I’d advise taking a look at their counterparts at the more expansive Burnley or Wolves, but if you want a 4/4.5m defender – look no further than Birmingham City.  Of course given the fact that Birmingham have had a pretty woeful pre-season (including a 4-1 spanking at the hands of Crewe) you might want to give up on Birmingham altogether.