Vital Reading season preview
Club: Birmingham City
Founded: 1875
Nickname: The Blues
Ground: St. Andrews (Capacity: 30,016)
When we face off: Sat 13th December (A), Tues 17th March (H)
Last season finish: 21st – Championship
Manager: Lee Clark – The former Huddersfield boss has had a turbulent time since taking the reigns at St. Andrews, having to battle on little resources and a squad largely made up of youth players. His record at Huddersfield was impressive and given the right owner and investment, could recreate a similar situation at Birmingham.
Key player: Paul Robinson – Birmingham’s young-looking squad means any experience is priceless and the 35-year old skipper has just that. Having played both regularly in the Premier League and the Championship, Robinson has the credentials to prove the experienced defender needed to help the young players around him develop
Season Preview: Birmingham survived on the last day and in the last minute on the final day of last season, with Paul Caddis’ injury time equaliser at Bolton saving their season. Lee Clark has been able to gain reinforcements over the past month and good ones too, signing good attacking options, such as Clayton Donaldson and Wes Thomas. While I don’t think they can mount a serious promotion push, they should be much better equipped to survive the drop this time round.
