The club have confirmed that McLeish has walked out of the club, this is just a week or so after the board stood by him after relegation.
I reckon that the Blues fans were split 50/50 when we went down. I felt he deserved the opportunity to get us back up, but he obviously felt that he wasn’t good enough to do the job and has walked before he was sacked.
Thanks for the one good memory Alex, I’ll never forget that Sunday in February, however I will very quickly forget the absolutely dire style of football we played under your management. You now HAVE to do the same at Villa, if you do – you will then gain double hero status!
So who next for us?
Just spoke to Russ, we talked about Chris Houghton, also there is Alan Curbishley – but we need someone who can get us promoted.
What are your thoughts?
It seems that Mike and I were posting this news at the same time, so I have bought his thoughts into here to tidy the blog:
I for one thought he should have done this at the end of the season and am not unhappy about this news. I felt that we needed a fresh start and that included a new manager. I had faith in him getting us up but was not looking forward to another desperately dull Championship season of 1-0 wins and 1-1 draws. Hopefully we can find someone who can create some new energy and get the good feeling back.
I’d like to thank Alex for the good times in the 2009-10 season and for delivering the Carling Cup and wish him all the best for the future.
To walk out on a club after relegating them is pretty low.
Let’s hope we can get someone else in who has a track record of promotion, there’s not many and we’re not much of an attractive proposition at the moment.
Oh dear.
I think you’ve been rather kind in your assessment, Kev. I think McLeish has betrayed the fans. He’s allowed a rather large number of fans to prove their support for him and the team he has built, to buy season tickets, before leaving. He even oversaw the signing of a hugely controversial figure, in Marlon King, before walking out on him, and the club. I was willing to overlook King’s rather dodgy past, assuming McLeish was willing to work with him, and had received assurances that those times were behind him. We’ve also brought in Chris Burke, in what appeared to be the beginnings of a ‘repair job’ to bring the team HE relegated back into the Premier League. I have spent a LONG time since the Tottenham match, defending Alex McLeish, partially through loyalty, but also because I believed he deserved the opportunity to get us back into the Premier League, and have a crack at the Europa League his team earned us. Now seemingly he won’t have the chance to do either. Not because the Board ‘ran out of patience’ or because he was punished for relegation, but because he wanted out. Probably (unless the coincidence can be ignored) because he’d rather kick Blues fans in the teeth, and manage Aston Villa in the Premiership. I hope – if he does – he gets them relegated, as it’s the only way I’ll be able to forgive him what he’s done now. I was willing to stand by who I thought was a loyal gent, but he hasn’t shown me, or the rest of my fellow fans the same loyalty. I genuinely hope the Board have a decent replacement in mind and that they act swiftly. Birmingham City are bigger than one manager, as has been proven before, but I think there will be a short period of anger, hopefully the players aren’t unsettled, and if our next manager arrives soon enough we can look forward to our European adventure without the man who got us there. Keep Right On.
This could be a blessing in disguise. Hope the board go and get a decent manager and not penny pinch. Will the decent players stay now though? What a mess. Villa surely wont have him.
I wanted rid of McLeish for over a year I strongly believe he is the reason we went down, he has to be responsible for our relegation with his total defensive football. Hopefully the next boss will build a young fast mobile team, with an aim on attacking football. If we do take this line I just hope the fans will be patient and give whoever it is time. My ideal man would be a young manager like Darren Ferguson
I’m really sorry that big Eck’s going. Yes his style of football needed some pepping up but given time that could have been dealt with. Who will we get to replace him? The club is in a really sorry state now: no big manager will want to come to us. All the star players will now be even more determined to leave. If the man who brought them to the club is leaving why would they want to stay? All the initial optimism about bouncing straight back to the premier league, has all but disappeared. I think we are in for another long hard journey before we see the heady heights again, but that’s being a nose we NEVER do things the easy way
Thanks Eck for all that you have done, no one can ever take my day at Wembley away from me, I waited nearly sixty years for that, Priceless
Good luck where ever you go, just don’t go to the vile and be successful. PLEASE
Keep right on
I wonder if McLeish had been told that he was going to have to sell more players than he originally thought and that he wanted to work where there was money to spend and have another crack at the Premier League.
Anyway he’s gone now. How about Martin O’ Neil? – unlikely as we are in the championship and he would want total say on signings but would do a great job and would be very motivated to succeed. Chris Hughton would be a good choice as he knows what’s involved in turning a relegated team into a promotion team however at newcastle they were able to hold onto most of their key players.
I would agree that this could be a blessing in disguise. The obvious problem is that we do have to find a better replacement and this is easier said than done. The Vile’s efforts to get a manager show this.
If Alex does go to Vile Park hopefully he will not change his style of play. The inhabitants are a happy bunch of smiling bunnies at the best of times and a couple of seasons of 4-5-1 at home and too late substitutions plus no effort to score away from home will make them even more content and satisfied.
KRO
Bit of a surprise, but I could see it coming.Who do we have now? Demateo, Mark Hughes, Billy Davis,Simon Grayson or Chris Hughton?
Wonder how the Villa fans will feel when he takes over, which looks odds on.
This was a big surprise to me. I had McLeish with us for the long haul and am disappointed that he is not going to finish the job he started ie establishing us as a serious, consistent Premiership club. I do thank him for getting us promoted, getting us to 9th in the Prem, getting us to two FA Cup quarter finals and for that wonderful day in February. Priceless. It does not send a good sign about how much money he felt he had to spend in the window or his view of the owners. I just hope we don’t look back on the past two years as a ‘golden era’!!! For the sake of that strike from Stephen Hunt 3 mins from time we may have lost our Prem status, our manager, our star players… But it was still worth it to lift the Cup!!! Thank you Big Eck
He aint going to Villa – but he is going in the PL after all he was a cup winner
It could be worse you may get linked to MON – heaven help yopu if he comes he really is a judas
MON wouldn’t come to us Martin.
I’m not so sure about Mcleishs’ future employment. I can see him heading to Witton.
Kev
my point was that both clubs seem to have there issues, for me we are better off in the same league. I hate the way the Talk Shite and the London and Manchester press hate the Birmingham clubs.
For what its worth I think you played better with out him
Lets just wait until the reasons become clear.
Im inclined to believe that the board have moved the goalposts so wide that he just had to move and fast !
An article in the mail on sunday earlier in the year seemed to know a lot more about the club and its financial position than we have been led to believe.
carson yeung bought the club as a plaything even though ROBBIE FOWLER has more money than him.
Its all gone sadly wrong and i think cy is in danger of going bankrupt,hence the current fire sale which has made big eck jump ship.
Talk of replacement managers at this stage suggests that many blues fans think it will be business as usual….but its not .
As for the ones who are baiting the vile ..well i think the vile will have even more to bait us with when its revealed that
1. we are thrown out of europe.
2.the current board takes us into administration.
3.And we are deducted 12 points before the season kicks off!
Remember the shambles at pompey?
who would want to manage a club that cant afford to pay the wages ,which is what will happen next .
you heard it 1st here
ladz and the blues ….
I hope it doesn’t come to that !
Reality is FINALLY sinking in it seems ….. We are a club in complete disaray , everyone prepare themselves for the long haul , and I mean long!
Thanks for the cup Eck , but as mentioned above , what drudgery we have had to put up with in virtually every other game.
Aii the scotish players will want out ,there will be a fire sale to get cy out of the mire,very sad day hope we go for Gus Poyet
I
Yeah good points well made Martin.
I get the feeling Eck will come back to haunt us. This is indeed going to be a long, long road with plenty of sorrows before we get our joys. whoever we get will need to work miracles with a minascule budget; regardless of how many of our stars we sell now.
Whether Eck would go to Vile park I don’t know – it’d be like him going from Rangers to Celtic. He knows what the derby atmosphere is in Birmingham, however a man has to earn a crust somwhere.
Thanks for everything, Eck. Wish you every success in your new adventure, regardless of where you go.
Im not upset about Big Eck leaving,I must admit!….I never liked his brand of football and in my opinion he made a number of dud signings(ok ,he made a few good ones too) and he is atleast partly to blame for two drops out of the premier league……but still thanks for the cup and some good memories Alex!.
However,i am worried about the state we are in finacially. Has McLeish jumped because he can see the chaos that is about to unfold around the club??.
The rumours that Yeung has purchased Blues without a pot to p**s in have been raging since he sealed the deal and If thats the case we are in a world of trouble!.Im not a a wizard with the financial workings of the club,the whole Hong Kong holding company model,has lost me….but frankly,its all a bit complex and murky…shouldn’t it really be a bit more transparent?!!..
Id like to get us to get in Di Matteo,or Hughton and show ambition…but if we really have to clear the decks because we are in that much trouble, we’ll be lucky to get in Billy Davies(God forbid).
I guess its d-day for the club,we really are about to find out if Yeung is all that he pretends to be!!….the next three weeks are vital,I hope the club isnt going to slowly fall apart as we have to cover yeungs financial shortfall.
KRO…..whatever rocky road we are about to follow.
I can’t be a hypocrite and moan about AM selling us out because I wanted him sacked anyway after his abysmal tactics got us relegated for a second time. As it is it has saved us compensation payments and we may get a payout as well.
From a football perspective I only really enjoyed one game all last season and that was the loss to Bolton in the cup where we at least tried to attack, and as football is supposed to be an entertainment one game isn’t enough.
In addition, all the successful teams in the Championship last year had an attacking style and I really believe that under AM we would have floundered next season.
I hope we try and attract someone with a attacking approach so that wherever we end up I will at least start to enjoy going to St Andrews again.
Surely the ‘get us back into the Premiership or else’ ultimatum given to him has forced his hand.
Not unhappy he’s gone though as I don’t think there was any great chance of us getting straight back up with Eck in charge, there may be with another manager though. I think MON or Ferguson Jnr. are good shouts if we could get them.
Whilst I’m not sad to see him go you’ve got to ask why ? what does he know that we don’t ,
how bad are our finance’s , is this the reason. He must have another job in the pipe line i can’t believe we’ve signed 2 players of his choice ( or were they ) and a supossed 3rd on the way and then he’s decided to go via an e:mail just like his attitude to the game no bottle come on Alex explain ( dish the dirt ) why go on tell us.
Apparently it would have cost 2 million to sack him so was the ” get us back ” statement a clever bit of additional presure or just a knee jerk reaction to the dissapointment of relegation.
2 things , i am not happy about Marlon king and neither are many blue noses, why employ that thug , everyone deserves a chance but gosh , have you read his past !! As for AMc, I guess he knows how little money the owners have , Johnson agent saying he is allowed to leave , Scott Dann keen on going to Liverpool and dare I say it , but foster to Villa ?, well he lives in warwickshire and happy where he is , they need a goalie , maybe this is AMc plan , move across and take 1 or 2 with him . Blues going for leagal action ref him leaving , why bother ?, if he is unhappy let him go . Attendances will be poor next year , no big teams visiting , little money to spend , i have a sinking feeling administration is not far away !!! I hope i am wrong but very concerned , then there is the little matter of replacing key players , getting them to gel with a new manager all before mid August – 9 weeks or so .
BIg eck is not going to villa full stop ! how naieve do you think he is?
he managed rangers and would NEVER cross the divide to celtic park,
crossing over to witton would be virtually the same ..he wont do it !
my spies suggest hes lined up for burton albion as a replacement for bradys old man.
A very disappointing way to leave for a guy that i thought was honourable, but i have to say i am not unhappy about it: i do not believe that Eck would have got us up again, at least not without an extraordinary transformation in footballing philosophy. As regards the impact on players, realistically Johnson, Dann and Foster would probably have moved on anyway. As has been said above, the really worrying aspect is that this may have ben catalysed by Eck knowing something about the state of BCFC’s finances that is itself v worrying. I guess we may find out soon – the next few weeks may be interesting i feel. KRO
Eck going really is just the start to be honest I dont care if he goes to villa or any club for that matter ive got sneaky feelin we as loyal fans are been dragged into a stupid ” we’ve been betrayed” battle by this board of amateurs who sadly own our club.. with respect to villa there run by a legit businessman who wouldn’t dare drop this on his club the bad press would kill them.. mcleish isn’t a top manager period we won a cup brilliant now were relegated again the cup was happy day out there’s many more bad ones on the way. Look further than this mcleish farce more serious things going on here Portsmouth is springing to mind