Exclusive: Former Blues defender urges finances for Rowett

Recently I managed to catch up with former Birmingham City defender Martin Grainger.

During the time I spoke with him, I wanted to get his views on the current state of the home form and what he thought could be done to improve it.

The ex-left back identified the fact that Blues boss Gary Rowett needs more financial backing from the club in order for him to continuously take the club forward.

‘Rowett is obviously a very good manager but when I look at the team each week, I don`t know who half of them are! Blues need to fund him properly and if they do that then they could go anywhere!

‘When I have watched some of the games on the new Football League show on channel 5, it looks like there are fans staying away all over the league, not just at the Blues. There are empty seats at almost every ground and Blues just can`t afford to have them.

‘St.Andrews needs to be a fortress and a spark of a new player could be the thing to excite fans and bring them back on a Saturday and Tuesday night!’ continued Grainger.

‘Back when we had Dominguez, fans were excited to come to the games each week and that is something that isn’t happening at the moment.’

Most fans would agree with the 43 year old in the fact that Rowett doesn’t have the financial backing that other managers in the Championship do, but in the past six months, we have seen more money spent on the squad than in the last two years alone!

Things must be improving behind the scenes otherwise where would that money be coming from!

When I asked Martin about what he thought Rowett should be doing to improve the current home form, he simply highlighted the fact that Blues just need a bit more luck.

‘Blues just need the rub of the green I think. Maybe if they got a fluke goal that nicked a 1-0 win then things might turn around.

‘That luck just hasn’t been there for them in the past couple of games and this is probably why they have lost four games at home already this season.’

As well as asking Grainger about what he thought could be done to improve the current horrid home form, I wanted to get his views on the current striker situation.

Following the news earlier in the week that Clayton Donaldson would be out for six weeks, which means he will miss the busy Christmas period, Blues are short of strikers and Grainger had this to say when I asked him whether Blues would miss him or not.

‘Birmingham is a huge club and they have a fantastic fan base which is there week in, week out! They shouldn`t miss Donaldson because he is just one component of the side.

‘The team just need to stick together and when Clayton comes back, he might just add that extra push for that play-off place all the fans are all hoping for.’

The defender, who played over 225 times for Blues, continued: ‘Obviously Blues currently have three strikers out on loan (Thomas, Novak and Jones) but I would hope that the board can support Gary Rowett in bringing a fresh pair of legs in because I think that is what the side needs personally.

‘They need to be fresh and exciting for the fans because new signings can always attract more fans, and recently, the style of football at home might not be attracting fans to come back to St.Andrews.’

Blues fans, what do you make of the comments that Martin has made? Do you think he is right when he talks about Rowett needing further financial backing? What do you make of his remarks about fresh legs coming into the side?

Let us know in the comment section down below!