Lee Carsley (Everton)
After winning promotion under Steve Bruce they started the season with a narrow defeat at Chelsea scoring two goals at Stamford Bridge. They got that vital first win of the season at Derby and looked a decent unit early on never being hammered and always making a fight of every game. They got a 0-0 draw at Liverpool and got early wins against relegation rivals Bolton and Wigan. The season turned on its head though with a failed takeover bid and the departure of Steve Bruce. The manager had a love/hate relationship with the fans but went on to do a great job at Wigan helping them to stay up. Alec McLeish left the Scotland job for a taste of club management at Birmingham and got off t a dream start beating Spurs 3-2 at White Hart Lane. They were never clear of danger but always looked a good bet to stay up. They twice drew with Arsenal and hammered Tottenham 4-1 which looked like it would be enough to keep them up. They struggled to turn draws into wins though which made every defeat more costly and they hit a bad run of form at the wrong time. Defeats at reading, Wigan and a hammering at Aston Villa left them on the brink and the day I think Blues fans will concede the damage was done was when they threw away a two goal lead against Liverpool's second string to only draw. Defeat at Fulham meant it was out of
their hands on the last day and an impressive 4-1 win over Blackburn
was not enough to save them.
Alec McLeish has been busy in the summer and has lost several members of his squad with Muamba and Kapo among those to leave but he is still left with a very strong Championship squad. At the back they have a good mix of experience and youth. Stephen Kelly is a quality right back as he showed on loan with QPR a few years back whilst Ridgwell and Taylor are good solid central defenders who will be hard to break down that's' without mentioning Jaidi. It's in attack where they look at their best. It's hard to see how teams are going to keep out an attack which can include any of Garry O'Connor, Kevin Phillips, Cameron Jerome, Gary McSheffrey , Sebastian Larsson, James McFadden or Marcus Bent. Add in the midfield steel of Lee Carsley and you can see why they are tipped for the title. Quite why they are not red hot favourites with the bookies is anyone's guess but I can't see beyond them for the title. They can face problems of course, I think some of the big name players may find it a culture shock at certain ground and they will be seen as the team to beat by many. A good start is also vital as a poor one could see a few grumbles around the club and the big names looking for a move by the end of August or sulk until January. They also have a relatively small squad in terms of numbers and a bad run of injuries could leave them in trouble Question marks remain against the manager who is seen by some as too cautious and this will be a big test for him in a division where attack is usually the best form of defence. It's a weak case against them though
and I just think they'll be too strong for the majority of teams
and it will be another promotion for Birmingham, this time as Champions. Prediction: 1st in the Championship
I asked Birmingham fans on an unofficial message board for their thoughts on the new season and here is what they had to say. How do you think Birmingham will fare this season? We've had a great pre season and the squad looks very strong, i think we'll be in the top two by the end of the season Who are your players to watch out for? I think this could be a big year for Cameron Jerome and expect him to shine this year Is your Manager the right man for the job? Jury is out, it's promotion or nothing for me, he shoudl have kept us up last season but failed in the final weeks. Which three teams will be promoted this season? Blues, Reading and Sheffield United Which teams will be relegated? Blackpool, Doncaster and Barnsley How do you think QPR will fare this season? Lots of talk about money at QPR but your squad doesn't look that strong to me, i reckon playoffs at best
He didn't get the chance to make an impact whilst in the premiership so was loaned to QPR in October and scored on debut. Rangers signed Vine in January for just over £1million although the deal couldn't be done in time to feature against Chelsea in the FA Cup. Vine scored seven goals for QPR last year and played both out wide and up front scoring this web sites goal of the season winner against Barnsley. Vine is currently out with a broken leg but is hopeful of being back in time to face his former club. In the past one man has both played for and managed both sides. Trevor Francis began his career at his hometown club Birmingham before becoming the first £1million player in England when he joined Nottingham Forest. Francis ended his playing career at QPR where he looked a class above when signing in 1987. He scored a brilliant hat trick at Aston Villa and a sensational over head kick in a cup win over Charlton. Francis was given the player/manager job in 1988 and guided us to a mid table finish bringing in some decent players such as Peter Reid, Colin Clarke, Nigel Spackman, Andy Sinton and David Bardsley.
Francis went on to have a good spell at Sheffield Wednesday before going to Birmingham and despite several attempts the playoffs was the best he could achieve with his home town club. Former England goalkeeper David Seaman also played for both clubs. He joined QPR from Birmimgham in 1987 and had a very good time at QPR and was made captain a few years later. He eventually was sold for £1million to Arsenal where he went on to do ok for club and country, still think he should have stayed at the Rangers though. Another man who did well on the playing side for both clubs is Paul Furlong. Furlong joined Birmingham in the mid 1990's to spearhead their dream of getting promotion. e scored 56 goals for Birmingham before making a loan move to QPR in 2002 and was soon sold to Rangers on a free transfer. Furlong had a tough start at QPR and was blamed for the clubs cup exit to Vauxhall Motors.
It looked all over for Furlong but some fans tried to sing his name and get behind him. He came back off the bench two months later to score at Chesterfield and never looked back, scoring again a week later and he ended the season with fourteen goals the last of them coming in the play off semi final when he scored the winner against Oldham. He had gone from zero to hero in just a few weeks and he cemented his place as a QPR legend in the next few years. He scored sixteen the following year as we won promotion and his last second equaliser at Barnsley proved to be more than a little important with just a few weeks of the season to go. He also grabbed a goal on the last day of the season to win us the game 3-1 and win promotion. Back in the Championship he was voted player of the year after scoring eighteen goals but he never hot those heights again as injury and a loss of form dented his last two years at the club. He still managed to leave a hero though scoring a last minute winner against luton in 2007 to virtually guarantee the clubs place in the Championship. In his final game at Loftus Road the players all bowed at his feet as the crowd sang his name. Quite a turnaround really.
Birmingham have come out on top in recent years and you have to go back to 1985 for our last win over Birmingham which was 3-1 at Loftus Road. Our last win at St. Andrews was a 2-0 win in 1984. When this web site started in 1999 Birmingham did the double over QPR. The first win came in Gerry Francis first game of his second spell in charge and the man who sounds like a nasty sex disease got the winner. The return game came at a time when Rangers needed just a win to stay up but we lost 1-0 and ended up having to beat Palace on the last day to stay up. 1999/00 season as a better one for QPR but were still lost at St. Andrews. A glandular fever bug went round the squad which affected everyone but was no excuse for the result as Paul Furlong scored twice against his future club. The return game was a month later and Rangers did better storming into a two goal lead through Rob Steiner and Chris Kiwomya. Typical Rangers we managed to cock it up and drew the game 2-2 thanks to two late goals from the Brazilian Marcello. Our dire relegation season saw us do OK against Birmingham. An opening day 0-0 draw had us laughably talking about promotion. Those dreams were long done by the time we met again when another 0-0 draw saw us drop to the bottom of the league but was probably one of our best performances of the season. Five years on we met again in the league after two pre season wins for QPR over Birmingham. The pre season of 2001/02 saw us win 1-0 thanks to Andy Thomson and in 2005 Kevin Gallen's testimonial against Birmingham saw us win 2-1 thanks to goals from Paul Furlong and Kevin Gallen. Back to the league and little had changed when it mattered as Birmingham ran out comfortable 2-0 winners at Loftus Road in 2006 in what turned out to be Gary Waddock's last home game in charge. At St. Andrews Lee Cook scored a screamer to get us back to 1-1 but we couldn't hang on for a draw and Cameron Jerome won it for Birmingham in a season that saw them promoted back to the Premiership. Click on the match for a report of the game from this web site.
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It's
the easy option every year to pick out the biggest relegated club
and tip them for the top. Looking at the Birmingham squad though
it is hard to look beyond them as serious challengers for promotion.
In
the current squad Rangers boast one former Birmingham Player who
will be hoping to feature when the two sides meet in October. Rowan
Vine joined Birmingham for £2.5million in January 2007 and
helped them to promotion more as a sub than a first team player.
Francis
had a fall out with the players though and player power ruled as
he was sacked just a few weeks after a famous 3-2 win over Liverpool.
His last game in charge saw him hand Les Ferdinand a home debut
and a deal to bring in ray Wilkins was also agreed before he was
sacked.
He
was booed when he came on against Cardiff City and chants of Chelsea
reject rang round parts the ground.