Blues battle against losses and FFP in January struggle

Steve Cotterill’s comments in the media yesterday have certainly created a stir. The Blues manager claims the club have, so far, made no bids for any players during the January transfer window.

This has led to some Blues fans expressing concern over the club’s finances.

I know for a fact that Blues have placed an offer for at least one player. Whether any offers have been accepted or not remains to be seen – but I’m guessing not by Cotterill’s comments.

The goal posts have certainly moved though. A few weeks ago, Cotterill confirmed via the media that he was making ‘good progress’ on a number of transfer targets. And during his unveiling as Harry Redknapp’s replacement, he was promised ‘significant backing’.

Blues, like all football club’s, have to comply with Financial Fair Play Regulations.

The UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations (FFP) were established to prevent professional football clubs spending more than they earn in the pursuit of success and in doing so getting into financial problems which might threaten their long-term survival.

Blues’ recent losses (copy and paste the link below) are mainly due to their spending in recent transfer windows, higher salaries and rising operational costs.

(http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/birmingham-city-finances-critical-dependence-14130307)

There has been growing concern over the holding company’s (Trillion Trophy Asia) ability to keep the club running in the year ahead. According to @TheSwissRamble on Twitter, the club ‘will need additional owner funding of £49.5m for Jul 17 to Dec 18’.

Their Tweet continued- ‘To place this in context, this is more than total funding for last 7 years, hence the auditors noting a “material uncertainty” about club`s ability to operate as a going concern.

While other blogs could probably delve further into the nitty-gritty, we can only say it as we understand it.

It isn’t great but every club outside the Premier League – with the exception of Wolves – is in the same boat where losses are concerned.

Blues require significant amount of investment from TTA to continue its operations. It would be interesting for the club to release a statement clarifying its plans and to clear up any uncertainty.