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Opinion: Expectations Are High

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Harry Redknapp is a hero in the Blue areas of Birmingham as he helped Birmingham City survive having replaced Gianfranco Zola at the end of the season. It’s never straight forward for bluenoses and the season just gone was no different. It started off with a lot of promise with Gary Rowett looking to take us to the Premier League before Zola took over and looked to take us to League One. However, there is a buzz around the team that I haven’t seen in so long.

I must admit, I have been writing these reports for a few years now and every season since we have been relegated from the Premier League, I have been optimistic with how the future season will go and I think this echoes the feelings of a lot of fans. But in the past, the signings haven’t been up to scratch and the optimism experienced in pre-season often starts to decay by the time November comes around. But it is different this year as Harry Redknapp seems to be the missing link that we have craved for years.

What we have in Redknapp is a pull factor. Birmingham City has been regarded as a fairly big club by most football supporters but recently we have had to attract young players in on loan especially with Lee Clark’s reputation for nurturing them. But we have been unable to attract players who will really make a difference. Already this season we have snatched David Stockdale from Brighton. Brighton won automatic promotion last season and Stockdale played a part in that so for him to come to Birmingham just shows how confident the players are in Harry and in the direction that the club is going.

We also have the ongoing speculation that John Terry might join. No matter what you think of him as a person, and I am not the biggest fan of his personal exploits, but to attract a player of his quality is no small achievement. He is a an experienced Premier League player who has played in Champions League finals and World Cups so to attract this calibre of player albeit toward the end of his career is a positive sign as I am sure a lot of clubs would have been interested.

Overall, we have got the attraction back. We have the ability to sign better players because they actually want to come and play under the new management. So the best appointment of this transfer season no matter who we sign will be getting Harry Redknapp to sign for the next season. It really is invaluable to the club and the positive vibes are back at the club, that is for sure. I just hope that we can get a few early deals in and see if these players can gel over pre-season and lift the spirits of the fans.

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