A Sorry State

The financial crisis of Birmingham City is more than common knowledge. It has this season escalated to a great big neon flashing sign that we can’t ignore, even when we try to concentrate on what’s actually happening on the pitch – which is also considerably bleak of late.

We know that “no one is for sale but everyone is available” and if we have to lose players like Jack Butland, Curtis Davies and Nathan Redmond to keep our club afloat then so be it. We will support the team – what players we have left – and we will continue to voice our grievances, and wait, with baited breath, in the hope that one morning we will wake up to news of our club being sold, or some other minor miracle.

But when the news that Marlon King would be available on a free transfer broke yesterday – which Blues have since denied – it seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Some immediately turned to the idea of a protest which seems to be gathering some pace and attention, but in my opinion that will have little effect on whether we sell our club or not, or whether anything changes regarding the running of Blues.

There's no question that Pannu and co. need to find a way to sell up, and if they are to be believed (said with no hint of irony), then a protest outside St. Andrew's won't speed this process up. They've already heard the chants, they've seen our messages, and they know how we feel.

The fact remains that both on the pitch performances and off the field proceedings are getting more and more difficult to stomach and it remains a waiting game. But that can only last so long; fans can only put up with so many kicks in the proverbials before they say enough is enough. This, it seems, is beginning to happen.

I'm a great believer in optimism, but I'm finding it hard to find anything to smile about when it comes to my football club anymore. The solidarity that has kept us marginally sane as a fan base over the years is wearing thin, but the one thing we still all agree on is that we, as a club, need saving. Our club is becoming more and more fragile by the day and I honestly can't see it getting any better before it has got a whole lot worse.

Mixed News

It’s never dull supporting Blues, is it? Carson Yeung ‘assisting police with their enquiries’ is just another one to add to the list of events under the heading ‘Only At Blues’, sitting just beneath ‘winning a trophy and then getting relegated’.

The news was broke by China’s biggest Bluenose Jeffrey Au on Facebook before being picked up on in online news articles by fellow Blues fans, to which Birmingham City released an official statement regarding the matter. Quick to dispel any moral panic, Peter Pannu tried to reassure the Birmingham failful by reiterating that it has “nothing to do with the operation of the club”, and that it is regarding Birmingham International Holdings Ltd.

Yet still it begs the question as to the repercussions for the club. If BIHL are found guilty of money laundering, and Carson is found to be involved in it, then it will have something to do with the operation of the club in ways of assets being frozen, transfers etc.

It could be nothing; just something to look back on a laugh about in a couple of weeks’ time. But on the other hand it could be serious. The police believe something is wrong at a big Hong Kong company and this will surely set the media into a frenzy, especially as there have been numerous reports in previous weeks questioning the finances at the club and if we really have any money to spend at all. But only time will tell.

In other news: we’ve singed Rooney. Championship football, Tuesday night games and the promise of at least two games in Europe were enough to lure him to the club..

Adam Rooney, that is. The 23 year old has signed a two year deal at the club on a free transfer. Scoring 21 times in 42 games last season whilst playing for Inverness, the striker certainly has an eye for goal; something which has been the achilles heel for Blues for some time now, and hopefully Mr. Rooney can help solve that problem.

Our owner gets arrested for money laundering and we sign Rooney. Just another day in the life of Birmingham City.