Lee Carsley – Just what Birmingham City needed

Birmingham City have today announced that former midfielder Lee Carsley has been appointed as the Club’s Head Professional Development Coach.

Carsley, 43, will be assisted by Richard Beale who oversaw a fantastic season with the under-23’s last season and the pair will hopefully guide the development squad to yet more success in the upcoming campaign.

The ex-midfielder knows the clubs rather well having made nearly 50 appearances during a two year spell with Blues between 2008 and 2010.

Born in Birmingham, the former Everton rock will know just how important this club is to the fans and I am sure that he will want to drum that into the young players who he will be bringing through the ranks over the coming few years.

In the last few years, Blues’ youth system has produced some of the best young English talent including current Stoke City and England goalkeeper Jack Butland, Southampton forward Nathan Redmond and Premier League winner Demarai Gray.

And with Beale and Carsley at the forefront of the development system, it now looks like more youngsters, such as Ronan Hale and Dan Scarr.

Personally, I feel as though the appointment of Carsley is one that Blues needed. Beale has been superb with the under 23’s development side over the last few seasons but he has always lacked that little bit of support.

Now, with the experienced Carsley by his side, I would fully expect the youth teams to come on leaps and bounds and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a handful of players pushed through into the first team of the duration of the 2017/18 Sky Bet Championship season.

Blues fans, are you happy to see Lee Carsley return to the club? Let us know your thoughts on his return in the comment section down below!