Rowett’s operating in uneven playing field

While Aston Villa push through the transfer of Ross McCormack from Fulham for a fee of around £12m, Birmingham City are left pondering whether to increase their £350,000 bid for Dundee`s Greg Stewart.

The above sentence isn`t a knock at Blues, it is merely pointing out the uneven playing field which we find ourselves in.

The Che Adams deal was a step too far for Blues who couldn`t muster up the £1.7m asking price up front – and the cash-plus add-ons offer wasn`t deemed acceptable by Sheffield United.

So Gary Rowett moved on. His attempt at juggling funds to find the best player and the best deal has left him frustrated. Blues do have money to spend – but do not have money to waste. As a club, the finances aren`t out of the muddy waters just yet, despite a vastly improved outlook.

The task of leading Blues to a higher-than-tenth place finish with the nominal amount of cash available will be near impossible. And that summarises exactly why Rowett is biding his time.

Why spend a chunk of the limited budget on a player who may be no better than the players we already have? It`s a pointless exercise. So the manager is tasked with finding a player who is better than – or can offer something different to – the players already at his disposal.

And that takes time.