Crisis? It's Just the Birmingham City Way

It’s not easy being a Birmingham City fan, y’know.

Every time there’s a hint of silver lining, a dirty great cloud comes along and covers it up.

No doubt most of the country has been laughing over the recent publicised goings-on at St Andrews, none moreso than our neighboring unfortunates from B6.

For Blues fans, though, it was more a case of "here we go again."

When the papers were screaming "CRISIS!" most of us were looking at them, amazed they’d even allocated more than their usual solitary column space to our club. Crisis? What crisis? A takeover on the verge of collapse is nothing new, and it’s hardly like we need the money is it?

We changed personnel, and probably at the right time too. The old ways had gone stale and it’s a brave Bluenose who will defend the decision to play 5-4-1 at home in a local derby—a game which ended up being Steve Bruce’s last game before he and half the coaching staff upped sticks for Wigan Athletic.

But let’s not dwell on the negatives. We’re all thankful for the work Steve Bruce did at the club—unfortunately, like Blues legend Trevor Francis before him, Bruce fell into a routine.

Far from the up-and-at-’em attitude we displayed upon first being promoted to the Premier League, we’d become predictable and lacking in ideas.

For all Brucie’s talk of bringing in young, hungry players—only to see them revert to negative tactics and shut up shop when level—it was becoming clear that he was running out of ideas.

Now a new and exciting era has begun at St. Andrews, with Alex McLeish at the helm, a manager with both European and International experience. The man who made Scotland play with more heart than England ever did during qualifying, and took them to within a whisker of Euro 2008.

As for the takeover? Let’s assume that it has indeed flown back east, and wait for Mssrs. Gold & Sullivan to give Big Eck a few quid in the January transfer window to strengthen the squad.

So, up next for Blues? A game against another side apparently in crisis, Newcastle United. Most of us are still re-living that 93rd-minute Seb Larsson rocket from Sunday to notice what’s going on at St James’ at the moment, but this match won’t be easy and we know that.

Sam Allardyce is feeling the pressure, and the Geordie faithful are demanding success, even though it’s been a couple of generations since they won anything of note. I think it’s crazy that they’re getting on his back after only four months of the season—after the defensive shambles he inherited, it’ll take him time to rebuild.

Taking a point against league leaders Arsenal tonight would’ve given them a boost, but I’m convinced we can go up there and do the job on Saturday. We’ve got the players to do it—and being Blues, we’ll Keep Right On.