If a week is a long time in football, then a year is an absolute eternity. Shouts of 'Sack The Board' were heard at Selhurst Park some 12 months ago. Today, the board have been one of few to lay out any money in the increasingly unstable world that ir British football. Despair had set in back in South London some 365 days ago, but now every Blues fan is awaiting sunday's trip to Highbury with more enthusiasm than a 5 year old on Christmas Eve.
So how did such a turn around occur? Well, it was painfully obvious during the opening couple of months of last season that despite the odd victory, things under Trevor Francis had become stale. A team can only progress so far with a midfield of Martin O'Connor and Danny Sonner - with all due respect to the former, and slightly less respect to the latter. Francis - rightly or wrongly - was shown the door, Steve Bruce arrived, instilled a freshness into the ranks with the likes of Stern John, Paul Devlin, Jeff Kenna, et al arriving at St Andrews, and the rest, as they say, is history.
So, exactly 3 months on from a memorable day in Cardiff, I sit here to write a preview to Birmingham City's inaugral season in the Premiership. The fact that the FA conjured up an opening day trip to the Double winners of the previous season only served to emphasise the dramatic transition from playing the likes of Grimsby, Rotherham, Millwall and Wolves to - just a few months later - playing the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and, of course, Aston Villa.
Plenty to look forward to then... but what attitude should the club adopt? Obviously, an element of caution has to be maintained, because the worst could happen, and IF relegation did occur, the much publicised cases of Bradford City, Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest only go to highlight the fact that one poor season can ruin a club if they fail to take the sensible approach. Sensbile signings, reasonable wages, and a distinct lack of Italian prima donna's appear to show that the club's owners and managerial team have taken heed of such warnings.
However, one can place an over-emphasis on caution. I am afraid I cannot concur with the view that 'finishing 17th will be wonderful!' Whilst a last day escape would be magnificent should the situation arise, aiming to finish 17th is a disaster waiting to happen. No group of competitive athletes can go onto the field of play, and not want to out-perform their opponents and emerge victorious. We have to have a right good go at anyone and everyone that we step on a pitch against - be it Manchester United at Old Trafford or Bolton Wanderers at St Andrews. I have every confidence that this will be the case, now that we have the right people at the club, and if this is the case, finishing 17th will not be the aim - it will be a last resort.
So, to the new signings. Aliou Cisse arrives after captaining his fledgling footballing nation to a remarkable set of results at the recent World Cup. No player can get to captain his country at a World Cup Finals through luck - Cisse obviously has terrific ability. He should add steel to a midfield which has always battled, but has perhaps not always had the quality to do so at a high enough level. Robbie Savage is, well, Robbie Savage. Anyone who needs me to explain his qualities and his, well, indiscretions, is evidently not a football fan. One thing is for certain though, Savage will be a cult hero within weeks - take it from me. Kenny Cunningham provides an experienced head at the back, to play alongside (one is presuming in a back three) any two of Michael Johnson, Olivier Tebily and Darren Purse - none of whom have any top flight experience in England. Cunningham may not be the kind of signing to sell season tickets, but from what I have seen thus far, will prove to be a valuable asset. And finally (seeing as Jovan Kirovski hasn't arrived yet...) we have Clinton Morrison. Morrison arrives as the club's record signing, and comes with a big reputation, earned mainly through is own somewhat big mouth. However, when one looks at his scoring record with Crystal Palace, one has to admit that he does have a good record. Whether an immediate impact can be made on the biggest stage of all remains to be seen.
As for the players we already have, I personally believe that Damien Johnson and Bryan Hughes will have a major part to play this coming season. Another, somewhat less obvious, prediction I will make is that Martin Grainger will prove a fair few critics wrong over the next 9 months. Doubts could well be raised about the inexperience of a lot of the players - especially those who will partner Cunningham at the back. Other doubts may also centre on Jeff Kenna's vulneribility as a defender, and who will hit 15 goals or more for us - which we will undoubtedly need from one player. Furthermore, I would have felt even more confident going into the new campaign with a new goalkeeper - but hopefully the inconsistent Nico Vaesen and the consistent, yet undominating Ian Bennett will prove me wrong.
Relegation is a fear, but it is for at least 8 other clubs in the Premiership. Where we were last season counts for nothing. We start on an even playing field with the likes of Albion, Charlton, Bolton, Southampton, Everton, Fulham and perhaps even Villa - all clubs who will know that safety is paramount, and reaching the magical 42 points must take priority before focussing on other targets. As for Blues, we mustn't get bogged down into thinking of the coming season as a great adventure, and of how wonderful it will all be, and start treating it as some sort of triumphant Cup run that we know will come to an end soon. We have to look at the likes of the teams I have just mentioned, and focus on taking 4-6 points off each of them over the course of the season. Whilst we will lose games, we are more than capable of beating a lot of Premiership clubs, and we must aim to do this, rather than considering the whole 38 games of the season as a lovely trip into the unknown. The last time I visited Highbury, it was a day out in the League Cup. The only times I have seen Blues at Anfield have been days out in the Cup. We cannot treat any game as a 'day out' this season. This is business - results outweigh the fans having a 'lovely day', and if we view the campaign as such, we'll be alright, and may even surprise a few people.
Still, come Sunday, the time really will have arrived, and the time for one long battle will be upon us.
Keep right on.