Often Partisan

Blues update

With the lack of a midweek game, and the international friendlies in midweek it’s a quiet time for Birmingham City; there isn’t much news around but I thought I would round up what I have seen to keep you up to date.

Obafemi Martins is now back in the UK, according to today’s Birmingham Mail. The 26 year old Nigerian striker had been a victim of Nigerian red tape as he waited for his visa back in his home country, but it’s all been sorted now and he’s ready to train ahead of the weekend’s clash with Stoke City.

Alex McLeish has said that Blues need to build on their win away against West Ham with another good result against Stoke City. It’s interesting to note that the result against West Ham was the club’s first clean sheet since the surprise 1-0 defeat of Chelsea at the end of November, after a sequence of 14 games in league and cup where Blues have conceded at least one goal. Blues haven’t won two games in succession in the Premier League since March 2010, when we beat Wigan 1-0 at home and then Portsmouth 2-1 away.

As previously spoke about on here, Terry Westley has indeed left the club after four years service. The article reports that it was by mutual consent, although no statement has been forthcoming from the club yet on the official website that I can see. Whilst Terry had an excellent reputation within the game for bringing on youth players, I don’t think that enough has been proven by the current youth setup to confirm Westley was making a huge difference; Westley was also the most senior member of the backroom staff that wasn’t a McLeish appointment and I wonder if Alex has his eye on his own man for the position.

Ben Foster has withdrawn from the England squad ahead of the friendly with Denmark in Copenhagen on Wednesday. Foster was examined by the team doctor on arrival with the squad and was given permission to return to Blues as he is suffering from a minor injury. From what I have heard via twitter, Foster had a slight niggle he’d picked up during the game away to Manchester United and had been playing on with it. Dropping out of the friendly will allow him to rest the injury further, and should mean he’s back in tip-top condition for the visit of the Potters on Saturday.

Nikola Zigic has confirmed that whilst his agent spoke to Racing Santander in the window, he had no real intention of returning to Spain so soon after signing for Blues. It’s not been the easiest of starts to a Blues career, but I do think Zigic has started to come into his own in recent matches and I feel he’s becoming a talismanic presence for us. With the possibility of linking up with maverick forward Obafemi Martins now in the pipeline, I really do believe we have a strikeforce capable of keeping us up comfortably.

I’m sorry there isn’t much more; as I say news is quite thin on the ground but in my eyes no news is often good news. I’m happy for the team to concentrate on improving league position and letting their football do the talking.

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