Some Birmingham City fans are lauding club CEO Xuandong Ren after his comments about former manager Steve Cotterill.
Cotterill, 55, was sacked by the Blues in March 2018 after the club had lost five games in a row during that team. He had lasted about six months in the job as he was appointed as the club’s boss in September 2017.
In a post that a Birmingham City fan shared on Twitter, he revealed a message that the had allegedly received from the club’s CEO Xuandong Ren. The message saw the CEO criticise Cotterill and his time at the club.
And some Blues fans are praising what he has said about the former Bristol City manager.
Never saying a bad word about this guy ever again.
— dale (@zdpj_) November 15, 2019
That’s a lovely gesture..hope it made you smile Connor! That’s definitely his dog btw so presumably genuine #KRO
— L20KRO (@L20Kro) November 14, 2019
Nice one @XuandongRen . What a man you actually are. Anyone else feeling better about the owners lately?
— Mike Prince (@Princey2k11) November 15, 2019
In the year 2015, Ernst and Young were in charge of City, but a Hong Kong sports holding company called Trillion Trophy Asia were given exclusivity to take over the club. The takeover was completed in October 2016 and Trillion Trophy Asia acquired 50.64 percent of the club.
Ren happens to be the representative of the club’s new ownership. As per Birmingham Mail, Ren is responsible for the day-to-day running of the Blues, having a hand in the appointment and sacking of managers at the club as well.
Some fans believe that Ren will change the opinions of many fans at the club.
I actually think Rens probably a good laugh. Positive steps by the club this season. Bring in a striker and a keeper to replace Camp (Smithies, Hart, Butland etc) in January then he’s well on his way to changing Blues fans opinions
— – (@jamesrace994) November 14, 2019
Brilliant and so true KRO
— trevor reeves (@TrevReeves) November 15, 2019
This is outstanding
— Max Dolloway (@Max_Bcfc) November 15, 2019
This past summer, Birmingham signed Alvaro Gimenez from Almeria and also roped in Ivan Sunjic from Dinamo Zagreb. But they also made a financial profit by selling the duo of Che Adams and Jota to Southampton and Aston Villa respectively.
What do we think?
Since the Hong Kong ownership came in, Birmingham have not really gone up the table in the Championship. They finished 10th in the 2015-16 season, but have finished lower than that position since then. They have also had six different managers since then and that too isn’t a good sign for any ownership.