Time to look at the positives

Now the dust is starting to settle on an eventful day at the Birmingham City soap opera, we can truly begin to analyse the situation.

What went wrong for Gary Rowett? Well, in truth, nothing. Quite a bold statement concerning a manager who has lost his job because the assumption would be that something couldn’t have been quite right. But with a fan base unanimously behind their outgoing manager, our new Italian has much convincing to do.

Let’s begin to look at the positives.

Gianfranco Zola was a hairs breadth from promotion with Watford back in 2013. His side finished third in the Championship that season, winning 23 games along the way. Their style of football was praised in many quarters for being fluent and exciting to watch. They eventually succumbed to a 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace after extra time at Wembley in the play-off final.

With a strike partnership of Matej Vydra and Troy Deeney, the Hornets were always going to score goals. To have the same effect at Blues, Zola will surely identify a striker as a priority in January.

The squad he inherits isn’t short of passion and grit. It’s the quality side that needs addressing. Is it possible to play fluently with the current players at his disposal? Maybe this could be a good thing for the likes of Diego Fabbrini and Che Adams – so called better football players who have struggled for game time.

As he oversees his first training session this morning, Zola is likely to come across a dejected and bewildered squad. Several first team players used social media to voice their surprise at Rowett’s exit so Zola will certainly have his work cut out. Hardly the ideal preparation for Brighton’s visit on Saturday.

It came to light yesterday that Rowett had virtually agreed a deal to become Fulham’s manager before Blues manically persuaded him to stay by way of a new contract. Perhaps we will be told the actual reason why the decision was made to axe a popular manager. But my inkling is that it’ll be swept under the carpet while the board cross their fingers and pray that Zola hits the ground running.