Administration is best for the Blues

Dark times lie ahead for Birmingham City football club. With home attendances dropping like a stone and the team struggling desperately in the league, for the club to progress it is clear there needs to be a change of owner. Acting chairman Peter Pannu has continued to take the line that the club is for sale, yet no real action has been taken during owner Carson Yeung’s time in court. Administration for The Blues would force Carson Yeung out of the club. And, although it would mean a points deduction and likely relegation to League One, here is why administration is best for the long-term future of the club.

Everything about the football club suggests that it is in need of a rebuilding process. The team is having a torrid time in the Championship, currently in the relegation zone, but on the other hand, it has one of the best youth setups in the country. When Birmingham City get new owners in, they need to appreciate that, build for the future and create stability. For now, that is the way forward for the club.

Gianni Paladini

There have been on-going rumours of Solihull businessman Gianni Paladini taking over. And, the outlined way that Birmingham City should be run as a club is the opposite of what Paladini will do if he comes in. If he is anything like the man he was at QPR, along with Briatore and Ecclestone, he will create another era of unwanted drama at Birmingham City. He will sack managers at the drop of a hat – QPR went through nine managers in four years with him involved – he will get all kinds of ambiguous consortiums involved behind the scenes, he will employ about eight directors of football who all think they have more authority than the manager, he will sign all the Italian players that he wants rather than what the team needs… He will drive all Birmingham fans berserk.

When talking to Tom Ross, his ‘plan’ was to invest £5 million in the team to get Blues into the Premier League. Firstly, that is not a plan. Secondly, if the club want wanted to take the short-term approach, the squad would need considerably more than £5 million to go up. Thirdly, what happens if the club does not go up? There are valid question marks as to whether Paladini has the money he's promising by his own bat, and if he doesn’t, this puts Birmingham City in yet more financial trouble. Is that what the fans want?

It is possible that Paladini will take loans from various different consortiums to invest in the squad, and then pay them back later, because he can make a massive profit from the club. If by some miracle the club does make it into the Premier League, of course that is the cream and honey land for any chairman because of the TV money involved. But assuming Birmingham don’t, he can sell the club for a lot more than he brought it for.

Carson Yeung

People say that if he didn’t have something in his heart for the club: why would he have persisted for so long in trying to buy Blues, when he could have brought another club? It is not as if he needs to own a football club immediately. He knows that given the court cases surrounding Carson Yeung, and with the club’s assets stripped, he might be able to buy them on the cheap somewhere down the line. Then, he can walk into St Andrews, throw £5 million on the table, treat the club as a toy and expect promotion.

Fifteen out of twenty-four Championship chairmen are foreign. These are the kind of people who see football as some kind of amusement game in Blackpool. If you put enough coins in, you will get loads of coins back – reach the Premier League. Too many Championship clubs are trying the scattergun approach and it’s not working.

Jeremy Peace

If Blues go into administration, it would mean a ten point deduction and probably relegation to League One, but it would attract a different type of owner. It would mean that no arrogant, short-sighted foreign businessman would be remotely interested in buying the club. This would be a good thing. A more honest and passionate Englishman who understands what football is about, preferably a Birmingham fan himself, would be able to afford a takeover. At this moment in time, the club needs a board which will be there for the long haul and not create so much uncertainty. Blues need to find their own Jeremy Peace, who has done an excellent job in control of West Brom. The Baggies finished comfortably in the top half of the table last season, but since Peace has been in charge, they've only spent a net average of £3.5 million per season in transfer fees. This is a perfect example of being able to achieve in football, without overspending.

Birmingham City’s academy setup is fantastic. Over the last few years, it has produced Jack Butland, Will Packwood, Mitch Hancox, Callum Reilly, Jordan Mutch and Nathan Redmond. All of these players have the potential to play in the Premier League, and three of them currently are – for another club.

Top youth setup at Blues

Although relegation would probably mean Birmingham’s current crop of youth get snapped up, can the club not learn from it’s own progress? Blues have to be encouraged by the work the academy coaches have done, and is continuing to do nurturing talent – Reece Brown and Demarai Gray are now part of the England U18s setup. Birmingham need to replicate the aforementioned generation of young talent, and there’s no reason why they can’t do it.  

If the club becomes notorious for giving youth a chance, the best kids in the second city will join. For a city the size of Birmingham, there is not too much competition for young talent. If you’re the parent of a 13-year-old boy, you’re going to want them to be at a club where it’s more likely they will get a chance, rather than necessarily at the highest level. West Brom and Villa are both established Premier League clubs, they are therefore less likely to take a gamble on youth. Blues should take advantage of that.

As a Birmingham City supporter, I don’t want the club to be run that way forever, because being in the Premier League and getting above Aston Villa is our ultimate goal. To do that, the club will need to spend money somewhere down the line. However for the moment, it is in need of financial stability. If Blues go into administration, yes relegation is highly probable, but Carson Yeung will be forced to sell the club. At the moment, eventual relegation with Carson in control seems inevitability, and Blues would find themselves in exactly the same situation in the next few years, if Paladini took over.

The best thing for Blues to do is metaphorically swallow whatever little remains of our pride, accept relegation, and force Carson Yeung out. At that point, only the sensible, straight-talking English businessmen will be interested in buying Birmingham City, and then everyone can get on with rejuvenating the club. Getting the right owners in is crucial to Birmingham City’s future.