Interview 92 - Birmingham City FC

Birmingham City, Birmingham, West Midlands
Arch-Rivals: Aston Villa

Nickname: The Blues
Founded: 1875

Birmingham City

The quickfire interview was done with Kati, @filanbcfc on Twitter. Follow her now.


Q1.What do you think of the exit of Alex McLeish to Villa and your new manager, who do you want/expect?


I still don't really know how to feel about it to be honest. I was hoping we would get a new manager in for the new season, so I’m obviously happy about that. But on the other hand, I think it’ll feel strange seeing a manager who I saw as a legend for winning the cup, at our biggest rivals. I think, and hope, we’ll get Hughton in as manager.

Q2. What expectations do you have of your club this year?

Automatic promotion. All depends on who leaves/comes in, but I expect us to challenge for the top two. Don’t expect much from our Europa League campaign though, especially if key players leave.

Q3. Which match defined your team last season?

I’d have to say the Carling Cup final. It summed up what our team was about, the passion and team spirit which played a huge part in our successful 09/10 season. As great as some of our players were, there’s no argument that Arsenal are by far a more superior team, but on the day our determination and belief saw us become champions.

Q4. Who do you tip for promotion and relegation from your league?

The Championship is always so unpredictable, so it’s hard to answer! I think for promotion, it’ll be West Ham, Blues and Forest, expect Leicester and Reading to be in the mix as well. Then with relegation, well, that’s even harder to predict. Haven’t really seen much of the three promoted teams to know how they’ll do next season. I’m gonna go for Peterborough, Doncaster and Barnsley.

Q5. Which player would you realistically like to sign?

Would love Bothroyd or Mackail-Smith at St. Andrews, but sadly can’t see either turning down the Premier League if they get offers.

Q6. Which of your players will have a point to prove this season?

It depends who stays really, hard to know at the moment. Marlon King hasn’t been the most popular of signings, so I think he’ll want to score a handful of goals to try and get the Blues fans on his side.

Q7. Who are you most looking forward to playing?

The first fixture I usually look for when they come out are the matches against Villa and Wolves, so this season there isn’t really any team who I’m looking forward to playing most. The draw for the Europa League hasn’t been done yet, but no doubt I’ll be most excited about playing whichever team we get drawn against.

Q8. What team do you hate playing?

Wigan. The games between us always seem to be important ones, and we always struggle to get a result against them.

Q9. What ground do you look forward to playing at most. (Away league games only!)

Nothing to do with the actual ground, but apart from last season’s visit, I’ve always enjoyed our trips to Mollineux!

Q10. Do you look out for any other teams in the league? If so, which one(s)?

I have some Spurs family, so always like to see them do well. Probably explains my loathing of Arsenal too!

Q11. Do you have any match superstitions?

I go through phases where a certain shirt is lucky! Last season in the most important matches I would offer up a forfeit on Twitter if Birmingham were to win said game. My forfeit for winning the Carling Cup was a display photo of me kissing the Villa badge for a month!

Q12. Sum up Birmingham City FC in three words.

Joys and sorrows.

Q13. Favourite Blues player of all time?

I have so many favourite Blues players, it’s hard to choose! Was always a huge fan of Stan Lazaridis, though I think Seb Larsson just beats him!

Q14. How will you fare in the cup competitions?

14. After winning the cup last season, I can’t see domestic cups being a priority for us. Think whoever comes in will concentrate on getting us back up to the Premier League straight away.

Q15. Name three things you could improve to do with Blues. (Money excluded!)

Would say that one of the things I’d most like to change at Blues is the style of football. Hopefully with McLeish gone we can get in an attack minded manager to start playing some positive football!