One Man and His Signings!

Here is Nicole’s second article for us.

With only five league matches to go, those fans looking ahead will be playing a game of mental transfers in the run up to the silly season, more commonly known as the Summer Transfer Window. 

33 games ago, Blues were hoping for Premier League survival, and we’ve achieved that with style. Our motley crue of players, who were predicted to drop like a stone, have shown those around us that we weren’t prepared to be rolled over by those who were deemed better than us, and we’ve stood our ground in what is regarded to be the best league in the world.

To keep our Premier League status next season, and to even push on in terms of league position, it is natural that we are going to have to spend over the summer to replenish our tired squad, as well as waving goodbye to some old faces.

Alex McLeish has dabbled in transfers for both the Premier League and the Championship since his arrival in November 2007. Have all his transfers been winners, or have we had our fair share of stinkers along the way?

Following Bruce’s departure, McLeish only had a relatively short amount of time to get to grips with the squad he’d inherited, and to disseminate what he’d need to keep us up.  McLeish’s first dabbles with the Premier League spending came in the January transfer window of 2008, in which we saw James McFadden and David Murphy join the club on permanent deals, whilst hotly tipped striker Mauro Zarate joined the club in the hope to save us from relegation. Of the three, only two remain at St. Andrews and only one is playing regularly. Following relegation, Mauro Zarate did not sign on a permanent deal, and now plays for Italian side Lazio. Zarate will be remembered by those at the club for his four goals in 14 appearances, and his skill and flair on the pitch. If we had stayed up that season, many would of hoped we could have signed one of the world’s hotly tipped strikers.

David Murphy still remains with Birmingham, but with injury set backs and the impressive form of all our defensive players, he may find it difficult if not impossible to fight his way back into first team contention.

McFadden is arguably the most successful signing from that window, playing regular first team football in the league. A bit of a marmite player with the fans, with some adoring the ground he walks and some who really can’t understand the fuss around him. He seems to drift in and out of games, but can produce moments of magic and has set up key goals, such as the cross to Ridgewell in the 1-1 draw with Liverpool this weekend. In hindsight, he was a “process” buy, where we were looking forward at having a rounded squad, rather than just a team of talented individuals.

A drop to the Championship for McLeish meant rebuilding the squad looking towards automatic promotion. Goals were obviously high up on his priorities with the signings of strikers Kevin Phillips, Marcus Bent and ex-Arsenal player Quincy Owusu-Abeyie. Experience was drafted in, in the shape of ex-Everton midfielder Lee Carsley, and Kemy Agustien joined on loan from side AZ.

Agustien struggled to adjust to the pace of English football and saw the second half of his season dogged by injury. After 18 league matches for the Blues, Alex McLeish chose not to sign him for £2 million, and returned to his parent club. A similar story for Quincy, who was loaned in the summer, but after six months, his expensive loan deal was not extended, despite scoring three goals in Blues Championship campaign.

Another costly mistake still lingers at the Blues in the shape of Marcus Bent. The well travelled striker is rumoured to be on a decent wage, but is currently on loan at QPR and looks to be far away from McLeish’s plans. Two years on, and many will predict that McLeish will be looking to offload the striker from the books during the summer.

Summer 2008 wasn’t without its gems though. Kevin Phillips has become a terrace hero at Blues with his knack of popping up when its least expected and scoring those crucial goals. Despite being an ex-Albion and ex-Villa player, Phillips – provokes a massive reaction when he comes onto the pitch and there is always an air of expectation when he comes off the bench. Unfortunately for the Blues and for the player, age is not on Phillips side. Although he was Birmingham’s top scorer during the Championship campaign, he now plays a bit part role at the club. The 37 year old really doesn’t have all that long left in the game, but he’s a valuable man to have around in terms of experience and skill: if we could keep him as a coach at some point, any young striker could only benefit from a man who’s scoring prowess is second nature. Lee Carsley is of a similar age, and although he was a central part of the Championship promotion side, age and injuries are now catching up on him. He can still do a job for any football team though, and it is expected that he will leave the Blues in the summer.

With a Championship campaign gaining speed, money had to be spent to guarantee promotion. A genius move from McLeish saw him persuade Stephen Carr from retirement in February 2009. It was a massive turn around for Carr, after putting in fantastic performances in both the Championship and Premier League, he is now the team captain and has been quoted as “loving life” at Birmingham. Keith Fahey was a key signing in this window, and was part of the promotion winning squad following his joining in January. His success at the club kept two other loan signings out of the squad, in the shape of Chelsea’s Scott Sinclair and Hameur Bouazza. Although Sinclair was much heralded as the next big thing before his arrival at Birmingham, he appeared to fail to impress McLeish and struggled to keep in the starting line up. Following the clubs promotion, Birmingham did not pursue the signing of Sinclair, who is now on loan at Wigan. Although Bouazza played for Blues 16 times and scored once, he was another player that McLeish did not pursue and he currently plays for Blackpool.

It could be argued that the flop of that window, however, was loan signing Carlos Costly. In 8 appearances he failed to make an impact on the league or the campaign, with no goals and a swift return to sender. A blink and you’d miss him signing was the fleeting appearance of Ulises De La Cruz, who signed for a month in March 2009. The player then declined the offer of an extension until the end of the season.

When any club gains promotion, their signings are crucial in determining whether they have any chance of staying up at all. This window proved to be the making of McLeish as Summer 2009 heralded the welcome to St. Andrews for: Vignal, Ferguson, Bowyer, Johnson, Espinoza, Hart, Dann, Benitez, James O’Shea and Tainio.  It would be hard for any Blues fan to criticise McLeish’s signings from this window, as you can see that these signings have formed the crux of our squad during this fantastic season.

It’s hard to determine whether Christian Benitez is truly a McLeish signing. The feeling in the run up to the signing was that the player was someone that owner David Sullivan really wanted, and almost was a personal “gift” to the club. Although the player is highly talented, he does struggle to score goals, and it seems doubtful that McLeish will choose to take up the expensive option of signing him for the second Premier League campaign, with Benitez failing to appear from the bench during the draw to Liverpool. Fellow country man, Giovanny Espinoza, was signed for a relatively low amount in the hope his arrival would help Benitez settle. Espinoza and the club parted ways during January 2010, with only two Carling Cup appearances to his name.

Bowyer and Ferguson have formed a formidable midfield allowance for a very low fee. The signing for Bowyer to the Blues was a free transfer, whilst Ferguson cost the club an unusually low free of £1.25 million. Although some Blues fans were not open to the idea of Ferguson playing for the club, he has exceeded all expectations and is a front runner for player of the season. Bowyers goals from midfield are the difference between our current position, and lower table struggling this year.

It’s a similar story in the shape of centre back partnership, Johnson and Dann. Although they signed for more than our midfield pairing, costing £5 and £4 million respectively, they have been a collective rock at the back and are in part responsible for our fantastic unbeaten run. Johnson looks to be an England player in the making, and Dann is massively improved, from a player that was once described by those in the game never to be good enough.

Joe Hart on loan is possibly the signing of the season. It’s a big title to live up to, but he proves his worth every week. The shot stopper has pulled off some truly heart stopping saves this season and continues to improve. He commands his area, and is a massive favourite with the fans. The biggest challenge for McLeish now is to try and negotiate another loan term for the player, who will only improve further with experience. We surelyhave England’s future number one playing in our goal, something which seems almost unbelievable at times for a newly promoted side.

Loan signing Tainio, and defender Vignal have struggled with injury this season which has limited their chances on the pitch. It is not clear yet whether McLeish will take an option up on Tainio, and Vignal will have to fight to gain a place in a very settled back four.

January 2010 signings Gardner and Michel have had limited chances on the field so far, although Gardner seems to be featuring more regularly as a first team member now. The combined cost of £6 million seems reasonable for the pair, and they are definitely players for the future.

On the whole, McLeish appears to have spent his money well and seems to have a keen eye for a loan signing. It wouldn’t be normal if every one of his signings had been brilliant, it doesn’t happen at any club. Even clubs like Manchester United have made a number of poor signings in their past!

With fantastic players, you get fantastic competition to sign them. However, McLeish has shown a bit of magic in signing players that other Premier League managers may not have considered good enough, in the likes of Ferguson or Dann.

With the right financial backing, and appropriate negotiation, we should have full faith in the manager. With the need for a striker in the summer, and reinforcements to the squad all round, we’ll be hoping for more of the success McLeish displayed during the Summer 2009 transfer window, to push on with the next Premier League campaign.