BCFC: The Right Man For The Job

The search has started in earnest for Birmingham City’s 36th permanent manager. While Lee Carsley takes on the reins in the interim assisted by Paul Williams and club captain Paul Robinson, the board are looking for just who can turn around what has been a pretty dismal 12 months for Birmingham City.

Birmingham City FC

I was thinking of writing a piece about who was linked with the club and who I personally wanted but the truth is, right now I don’t know.

The club seems to be in a shambolic condition.

Since Redknapp’s sacking I’ve seen stories in the press of fractious relationships in the dressing room; stories of fallings out with director of football Jeff Vetere, along with not-so-veiled digs at people for not being able to get the players in that Redknapp wanted.

Throw in rumours of cancelled training sessions, players revolting over perceived mistreatment and/or lack of preparation for games and it’s not hard for me to understand why Blues lie 23rd in the table having lost six consecutive matches in all competitions.

And to rub salt in the wound, Blues in all likelihood have had to pay a good chunk of the remainder of Redknapp’s £1.75mil deal to end the 70-year-old’s ill-fated spell.

Whatever happens next, I believe Ren Xuandong and co need to understand that the next appointment is crucial if they want to make any kind of progression.

As much as there might be temptation to throw in another “name”, what Blues need now is someone who can begin to repair some of the damage of the last nine months.

I think Carsley’s interim appointment will help.

Having been in situ since the start of the season he’ll know the players and he will know as well as anyone at the club what the real problems are.

He’s already spoken of trying to keep things as simple as possible. He’s spoken about trying to rebuild a resilience in the team. He also made the point that while on an individual basis there are some very good players at the club that there isn’t a team there at the moment – and that needs to be fixed.

Carsley’s record as an interim manager isn’t bad either.

Although his first spell at Coventry City wasn’t a success, his second spell saw them take three wins from five games.

In ten games in charge of Brentford prior to Dean Smith taking over he rebounded from two initial defeats to win four in five games and win the October 2015 Championship Manager of the Month award.

If Carsley can repeat that kind of form, then that should afford Ren, Dein and whoever else is involved in looking for a new boss the time to bring in the right man for the job.

And right now, that is all I’m hoping for.

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