After a traumatic couple of weeks it looks as though there is soon to be some good news for Birmingham City fans with the announcement that Chris Hughton will be the clubs new manager.
With the dramatic departure of Alex McLeish to Aston Villa and the club being relegated it has certainly been an interesting couple of months for all connected with the Blues.
Now the club are looking to put those events behind them and look to the future with the appointment of Hughton and focus on returning to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Hughton and Blues look to be a perfect match, a manager with undoubted talent who in many people’s opinion was treated so unfairly when sacked by Newcastle in December 2010, and a man that could certainly lead Birmingham out of this troublesome period.
Having been a coach and Assistant manager at Spurs for over ten years and being involved in the Republic of Ireland set-up as well as his time at Newcastle he certainly has the experience and most would argue more than deserves this chance.
His first task will be to set about a huge process of re-building, not dissimilar to that of what took place at Newcastle United when he took over there. With players such as Seb Larsson and James McFadden being released and big names such as Scott Dann, Roger Johnson, and Craig Gardner all expected to leave the new manager will have large gaps in his squad that need filling.
Though Hughton has already shown that he is capable of managing a club in crisis, he was named as Newcastle manager after their relegation to the Championship and was integral in convincing a number of the top players to stick with the club and help fight the cause.
As a result of this he guided Newcastle back into the Premiership in just his first full season in charge, perhaps what is even more remarkable is the fact they only lost four games all year and were promoted with 102 points, winning the league by an impressive eleven point margin.
The Blues faithful will be looking for a manager that can stabilise the club and take them back to where they belong. It isn’t all doom and gloom though, the league Cup victory will still be fresh in the mind and the prospect of Europa League football at St Andrews next season is certainly an exciting one.
With the likes of Gardner and Johnson expected to leave this at least means there will be money coming into the club and the new manager will surely have funds at his disposal to build a team capable of challenging for promotion.
New signings Morgaro Gomis from Dundee United and Chris Burke from Cardiff have already been confirmed so moves are already a foot to prepare the squad and it will be up to Hughton to identify further talent to bring in.
This could be the beginning of some exciting times at St Andrews after the disappointment of losing McLeish and relegation. There is no doubt the task that faces Hughton is a big one but he has shown that he can more than deal with pressure and could be the perfect man for the job.
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Excellent article, except I didn’t understand the bit ‘after the disappointment of losing McLeish’. I’d say most of us Bluenoses were over the moon. And the fact that he has joined Aston Villa is really a bit of a bonus.
Hughton didn’t have to rebuild after Newcastle were relegated. They gambled on coming straight back up and kept most of their squad from the previous season. It seems unlikely that Birmingham can afford to do the same. McLeish is likely to try and sign at least a couple of players (most likely Ben Foster and one of Scott Dann or Roger Johnson).
I do think Hughton is a good choice, but it remains to be seen how he does when he has to rebuild a team.