All aboard Gary Rowett’s promotion disco bus

Promotion. It seems a long time ago since Blues challenged in the heady heights of English football`s second tier. Indeed, the off field problems have caused the club to stand still both on the pitch and off it. Every summer saw a mass exodus and the players coming in were number fillers. The club had less money than a Greek cash point and the players earned less than a Tesco shelf-stacker. But have we seen the worst of it?

Ever since Panos Pavlakis took the drastic, but heroic, measure of bringing the receivers in, the fans have been offered hope. Carson Yeung made a desperate attempt to block the move, but failed, and we now have a club being run in an honest fashion. Now, I am not for one second suggesting that Gary Rowett is in a position to make an audacious attempt to swoop for David De Gea. The sheer fact that Adam Legzdins, a goalkeeper Blues released seven years ago, has been signed shows where the club are. But light is now visible at the end of the tunnel. With Trillion Trophy (whoever they may be) gaining exclusivity for two years in an attempt to buy the club and / or the parent company, we can all hope for better days ahead.

How realistic is the headline of this article? Though I may be getting ahead of myself, it shows the progress made under Rowett, and the aforementioned Pavlakis, that it even crossed my mind to type such a headline which only seven months ago seemed as unrealistic as Pannu growing hair. On August 8, we`ll have the first incling of what this Blues side is made of.

The other side of the coin is the club absolutely failing and Rowett being ‘found out` as a manager. I don`t foresee that happening though, so we need to hope Blues can hold on to the Bromsgrove-born gaffer when (not if) bigger clubs come sniffing around. It`s inevitable that it will happen if Blues overachieve. And by finishing anywhere near the top six, we`ll be overachieving. But that isn`t saying it won`t happen. The Championship is split into three leagues; the overachievers, the underachievers and the ‘doing-as-well-expected`. With a bit of luck, Blues can be in the former.

So, as we wait in anticipation for more new faces, player exit`s and lots of rumours flying around, we can look ahead to 38 days time – the start of the Championship season!

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