Marc Leonard became the eighth signing of what seems a very impressive transfer window for Birmingham City on Thursday morning. The 22-year-old Scottish midfielder wrapped up a transfer which had been rumoured for a more than a month to join what appears to be the squad to beat in League One this season.
After multiple years of circling the plughole, on Saturday afternoon it finally came. Despite winning against Norwich, Blues found themselves relegated after every one of their rivals also pulled a last day win out of the bag. What should have been a summer of excitement for the future ahead has for now become one of suffering brickbats in the media.
After having threatened to do so for a few weeks, Birmingham City finally fell into the bottom three of the Championship following a 2-1 defeat away to Leicester. A late Leicester winner coupled with an injury time winner for Huddersfield conspired to ensure Blues now lie in 22nd place, one point from safety.
Blues pushed themselves deeper into the relegation mire on Tuesday night, falling to a gutless 1-0 defeat at home to Middlesbrough. While the defeat hasn’t cost the club any league places the game in hand advantage is now gone with Blues only one point outside the bottom three.
It’s been a few days now since Birmingham City have announced the naming rights deal agreed with Knighthead. Although touted as the largest commercial deal the club has done in its history, the deal is more than just about money. It gives us an insight into the true potential of the Tom Wagner-led ownership regime and just how big things might get.
Once again, it appears that the only certainties in this life are death, taxes and Birmingham City in turmoil. A 2-0 defeat to Coventry City on Friday night mean Blues have now only taken five points from a possible 27 in the league under Wayne Rooney amid growing calls for his removal.
As expected after a weekend of rumour, John Eustace parted company with Birmingham City on Monday morning, followed by his assistant head coaches Matt Gardiner and Keith Downing on Tuesday evening. While at the time of writing Wayne Rooney has yet to be named as successor, it is only a matter of time before the former Derby County and DC United head coach takes over at St Andrew’s.
There’s an old cliché about a week being a long time in football. It’s meant to symbolise how quickly things can change in the game and this hasn’t been typified more than the last fifty days at St Andrew’s since Shelby Companies Limited took over.
With just a week left in June the angst among some Blues fans is starting to ratchet up. The eagerness for the takeover to go through seamlessly knows no bounds but years of being a Blues fan means that some fans can’t help but worry that something is going to go wrong.
It’s been two months since news broke of the Often Partisan Limited bid to take over Birmingham City with very little updates on progress. Although the radio silence has been understandable after the Maxco fiasco earlier in the season, the longer it has gone on the more nerves are starting to show among Blues fans.
