Premier League Preview 2009/2010 – Birmingham City & Blackburn Rovers

Birmingham City
(Last season – promoted)

After guiding Birmingham City safely up out of the Championship at the first attempt Alex McLeish gets his first full shot at the big time this season, with another chance to prove his worth as a Premier League manager.

The Scot has not always seen eye-to-eye with the club’s board since arriving at St. Andrews in 2007 and has often had to show dignity and restraint in the face of some pretty stinging public criticism, but it should not be forgotten that the former Rangers manager has a winning pedigree both as a player and a coach. The big test starts now though.

Last season McLeish’s Birmingham were by no means spectacular, but the Blues were extremely organised and very difficult to break down, a point illustrated by the fact they conceded just 37 goals in 46 league games, a first rate defensive record at any level.

It needed to be too. Birmingham may have been watertight in defence but they were equally miserly in attack, scoring a paltry 54 league goals – a tally bettered by most mid-table clubs and even relegated Norwich City. This trend has carried through into pre-season where Birmingham have struggled for goals against the likes of Tamworth, Crewe and Dagenham & Redbridge. To remedy the situation McLeish has brought in Ecuadorian striker Christian Benitez from Santos Laguna for a fee that could end up as high as £7.7 million. Benitez is a lively forward, dynamic and quick, and has impressed me whenever I’ve seen him play for Ecuador, but he is far from the most clinical of finishers and tends to be somewhat erratic in front of goal. Will he adapt and improve his game quick enough to spearhead the Blues’ quest for survival?

Generally speaking McLeish looks to have bought well. Scott Dann captained Coventry City at just 21 and is one of the most promising young defenders in the country while Roger Johnson was twice named Cardiff City’s player of the season and appears ready to make the step up to playing in the Premier League. Lee Bowyer and Barry Ferguson bring know-how to an already experienced midfield and Joe Hart is a keeper with a bright future. With some first team football under his belt at St. Andrews Hart might even make Fabio Capello’s World Cup 2010 squad.

Birmingham will likely play a 4-5-1 formation this season with a packed midfield, compact defence and Cameron Jerome, Benitez, Garry O’Connor and Kevin Phillips vying for the lone frontman role. James McFadden and Sebastian Larsson will be expected to provide a creative spark. Left back remains a problem area and the Blues could use more quality in attacking areas, but provided the board keep faith in McLeish Birmingham look to have enough durability about them to stay up this season, especially if Benitez can hit 10-15 goals.

Key Man: Christian Benitez
One to Watch: Joe Hart

In: Christian Benítez (Santos Laguna, £7.7m), Scott Dann (Coventry City, £3.5m), Joe Hart (Manchester City, loan), Lee Bowyer (West Ham United, free), Roger Johnson (Cardiff City, £5m), Barry Ferguson (Rangers, £1.5m), Giovanny Espinoza (Barcelona Sporting Club, free), Stephen Carr (unattached, free)

Out: Stephen Kelly (Fulham, free), Krystian Pearce (Peterborough, loan), Robin Shroot (Burton, loan), James McPike (Kettering, free), Michael McKerr (Oldham, free), Semih Aydilek (released)

Blackburn Rovers
(Last season – 15th)

After a four year period of relative prosperity under Mark Hughes it was to be expected that Blackburn Rovers would suffer a downturn after the Welshman’s departure for Manchester City. That his successor Paul Ince would struggle quite as much as he did was more surprising, but given the key departures from Ewood Park last summer Blackburn’s 2008/2009 slump was not a great shock. It did however nearly cost them their Premier League status and by the time Ince was sacked Rovers were staring down the barrel of a serious relegation battle.

Faced with such a predicament, who you gonna call? Well, the board at Ewood Park called Sam Allardyce (not a bunch of eccentric ghost exterminators and a blob of slime), and the former Bolton coach ably carried out the task set before him. From being 5 points and a 22 goal swing away from safety when he arrived Blackburn finished 15th, staying up with room to spare.

Now comes the time for Allardyce to put the stamp on his team. I know what you’re thinking, ‘oh great, so 11 burly jobsworths and a style of hoofball better suited to the NFL’ right? But this perception does quite a disservice to Allardyce’s achievements both at Bolton and more recently at Blackburn. It shouldn’t be forgotten that Allardyce turned Bolton from a run-of-the-mill second tier footballing outpost to a consistent top eight side during his tenure at the Reebok, and though the likes of Arsene Wenger took pleasure in complaining about the physicality of Allardyce’s teams, flair players like Jay-Jay Okocha, Youri Djorkaeff and Fredi Bobic often lit up the Premier League and can hardly be classed as mere brutes.

So what does this all mean for Blackburn? Well, it would be churlish of me to suggest that Allardyce will have Rovers playing like Barcelona. A cursory glance at Blackburn’s summer deals so far shows the coach has opted for players with physical presence and good athletic attributes. Gael Givet helped turn Rovers’ season around last year and his permanent signing is a step in the right direction. Elrio van Heerden can run and run. Add to Givet the likes of Chris Samba and Ryan Nelsen and there is a land of the giants quality about Blackburn’s backline.

Some creativity exists at Ewood Park but perhaps not enough. El Hadji Diouf and Morten Gamst Pedersen are both crafstmen, albeit not the most reliable, and loan signing Franco Di Santo has shown promise at Chelsea. £12 million signing Nikola Kalinic is also an interesting one. A tall targetman in the Roque Santa Cruz mould, Kalinic is good in the air, likes to loiter in the box sniffing out chances and plays off the l
ast defender. How well the 21-year-old adapts to English football could hold the key to Blackburn’s season. With Allardyce at the helm Rovers shouldn’t struggle like last year, but a mid-table finish is probably the best they can hope for.

Key Man: Stephen Warnock
One to Watch: Nikola Kalinic

In: Lars Jacobsen (Everton, free), Steven N’Zonzi (Amiens, undisclosed), Gaël Givet (Marseille, £3.5m), Nikos Giannakopoulos (Asteras, £5,000), Elrio van Heerden (Bruges, free), Franco Di Santo (Chelsea, loan), Nikola Kalinic (Hajduk Split, £12m)

Out: Roque Santa Cruz (Manchester City, £17.5m), Matt Derbyshire (Olympiakos, £3m), Aaron Mokoena (Portsmouth, free), Dean Winnard (Accrington, free), Andreas Arestidou (Shrewsbury, free), Jamie Clarke (Lincoln, free), Tony Kane (Carlisle, free), Keith Treacy (Sheffield United, loan)

Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, English Premier League, Premier League 09/10, Previews