Watto’s Preview: Fulham vs Birmingham City

Alex McLeish looks set to sign a well deserved new contract, which for me personally vindicates everything I have said and felt about the man. I was a fan before he arrived and was thrilled when he replaced Steve Bruce. Followers of football in England tend to dismiss anything that happens in Scotland as Mickey Mouse. Alex was given the most demanding job, certainly in British football if not the world, when he took over at Rangers. Failure, and by that it means second place, is not tolerated.  They were along way behind Celtic in terms of ability and significantly in budget. In spite of this he won the League twice and finished with more trophies than Celtic while he was in competition with the man who now resides in Witton.

Alex showed the level at which he was capable of working by taking Rangers farther in the Champions League than any Scottish club has ever gone. That expertise was tested  in the international stage where in 10 internationals with Scotland they won 7.

His lack of cash was not an excuse for failure at Rangers and in a way that mirrored his situation at Blues last season in the Championship. David Sullivan and David Gold were clear that anything other than immediate return to the Premiership would see the end to Alex’s reign. Of course most Boards in that situation would support the Boss with a bit of cash but we know that the old board did nothing.

Blues were dull last season and as the crowds dwindled and the criticism mounted the 1-0 wins kept clocking up and come May, the free transfers and loanees had got us back. We now know that the board had spent so little to maximise their profits when the club was sold.

Alex throughout maintained his dignity and got on with the job. On Sunday the Blues return to Craven Cottage which was probably the venue of Alex’s lowest point when a 2-0 defeat gave Fulham the chance to make an unlikely escape, while it made Blues demotion almost certain.

Fulham, as they did that day, lie just behind us and covet our position, only now it’s on the fringe of the European places. It’s testimony to the progress of both teams that we are contesting such healthy league positions. They have just had a tough Europa League contest with Shaktar Donetsk which they won 2-1 on a heavy pitch. This may give Blues the edge. Blues have only lost once at the home of Fulham in 40 years. (Two matches were played at Loftus Road).

It is possible that 8th spot will be a Europa league spot but several of the circumstances to enable this sadly involve the team one place above us being successful. Would a Blues fan be happy to secure a place in Europe because the Dark Side won the FA Cup? Let’s not go there!

With the fixtures as they are, the visit to Fulham is key to Blues maintaining that eighth spot and to improve our placing three points would be very useful.  Blues have lost their last two away Premiership games, both in London. Their performance at Derby left a lot to be desired and had to rely on that resilience and steel that Big Eck has instilled in his charges.

Blues still have not solved the problem of scoring enough goals. They don’t get enough crosses into the box and the goal attempts are far too few. Having not added to the strike power in the transfer window Alex will need to find a way of upping that scoring rate. The defence have fell below their own high standards and will need to clock up a few more clean sheets.

By Alan Watton

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