Coming off such a great season last term, how did we get it so wrong this time around? Well, McLeish's signings didn't help. Here I look at all of this season's signings and have a quick look at how they did. It doesn't make for great reading.
Matt Derbyshire (Loan)
What a disappoint Derbyshire turned out to be. Many Birmingham fans remembered him from his Blackburn days and whilst he never looked to be anything special, he seemed a handy player. It's probably a bit harsh on him as he never got a run in the side but whenever he did play, he wasn't very good. Put it this way, he was kept out of the team by a 'striker' who scored 3 league goals all season. Won't be missed.
Nikola Zigic (£6m)
Zigic was signed before the World Cup and Birmingham fans watched on in horror as he had a terrible tournament. His first couple of months at the club weren't great; many fans thought he was more of a comedy act than anything but Zigic proved them all wrong. He's a very good technical player, but unfortunately for him, McLeish played totally the wrong tactics. Birmingham needed a big man who was strong, could hold up play and win headers. Although Zigic is 6'8'', he's not great in the air and far better on the deck which made the decision to hoof it up to him at every opportunity a very puzzling one. Will be sold in the summer as he's probably the highest earner at the club and he wouldn't stand a chance in The Championship. Didn't see the best of him.
Enric Valles (Free)
Many will be wondering who this man is and I had to check on Wikipedia that he was still at the club... Would be surprised to see him still on the books next season. Anonymous.
Alexander Hleb (Loan)
One of McLeish's most baffling signings. Did anybody realistically think that a player like Alexander Hleb would fit in Birmingham's team? Of course not. I've no idea what McLeish and Hleb himself were thinking. Hardly ever played and when he did, he was very underwhelming. There's no doubt that Hleb is a very good player but he was surrounded by players that were used to McLeish's style of play and that doesn't involve much passing. Didn't help himself by constantly moaning about how much he didn't want to be at the club. Bizarre.
Jean Beausejour (£4m)
Beausejour was the most misused player this season, mainly because McLeish never played him. We were begging for some pace on the wings, Sebastian Larsson is pedestrian and whoever played on the left (Fahey/Bowyer) were also slow. We had no injection of pace and I can't remember the last time we scored from a cross so when we signed Beausejour I was very happy. Nearly every time I've seen him come off the bench, he's looked lively. He's strong, relatively quick (well, compared to the others) and has a good cross on him. Which is exactly why McLeish decided not to play him. Reminds me a bit of when McLeish refused to play Mauro Zarate the last time we got relegated. Creative players have no chance under McLeish. I feel sorry for Beausejour as he deserves a lot better.
Martin Jiranek (£500k)
Brought in mainly to cover for Scott Dann and Roger Johnson. Even though he had Champions League experience and loads of international caps, McLeish thought David Murphy was a better option. After Dann got injured for the remainder of the season, McLeish opted to play Murphy (who is, by the way, the worst defender I've seen in a Birmingham shirt) at left-back and put the error prone Liam Ridgewell at centre-back. After a few games of this not working, McLeish finally cottoned on (he's normally quite slow on the uptake) and started playing Jiranek alongside Johnson. The rest as they say, is history. Jiranek helped Birmingham win the Carling Cup with a terrific display and hardly put a foot wrong in a Birmingham shirt. Has now left the club but I wish him the best in the future.
Ben Foster (£6m)
McLeish's signing of the season (not exactly a worthy accolade but still) and a shrewd bit of business. Much like we did with Joe Hart, Birmingham have brought Foster back into the limelight as one of the best keepers in the Premiership. If it wasn't for Foster, we'd have been relegated weeks ago and he's another player who made a big contribution to the legendary Carling Cup victory. Kicking is suspect at times and sometimes does some crazy stuff but on the whole, he's a pretty good goalkeeper. I wouldn't expect him to stay with us as there are several Premiership clubs in need of a good goalkeeper and he's far too good for The Championship anyway. Not quite Joe Hart but not far off.
Curtis Davies (£3m)
It's hard to comment on Davies just yet, he was signed from Villa as cover for Johnson and Jiranek and as the latter picked up some knocks, he began to feature. Of the games he has played, he's been poor in almost all of them. This is a player that didn't play for a while before he joined the club so it's unfair to be overly critical. I suspect he'll be starting for the club next season when either Johnson and/or Dann leave this summer so the jury will be out until then. Definitely not a signing that helped towards staying up though.
Obafemi Martins (Loan)
Martins didn't feature much for Birmingham at all but will go down in history as the man who scored that goal. If he had played more, I'm not sure he would have contributed much. Another player that doesn't particularly suit our style of play, much like Hleb. That's one of the more frustrating things about McLeish in the transfer market, he does all this 'due diligence' and then signs players that clearly don't fit into his style of football. Madness.
David Bentley (Loan)
He thinks he's good. He's not.
So there you have it, apart from Foster, none of McLeish's signings this season contributed much if anything to the cause. Not all of it is the players' fault, a lot of the blame has to fall at McLeish's door for signing the wrong players or refusing to play the right ones. It'll be interesting to see who he signs this summer seeing as it looks as if he'll stay. Here's some advice Alex: sign some players who will fit into the side and get some players with pace because I'd bet that you're quicker than a quarter of our squad. Thank you.
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