Brum fans salute McLeish, plus Peter Pannu's pint pitfall, wicked whistle and daft quotes of the week

Not quite sure how Birmingham fans feel about their former manager... (See pic above) ** Birmingham's acting chairman Peter Pannu was sadly absent from their triumphant Europa League qualifier on Thursday night.

Fresh reports linking Liverpool with a move for Scott Dann have emerged this morning, speculating that Kenny Dalglish could steal the Birmingham City defender away because of his current employers' dire financial situation.
Due to the legal trouble that Carson Yeung, the owner of the Midlands club, now finds himself in, it seems as if the Blues could struggle to make any headway in the transfer market prior to their season in the Championship.

Birmingham City fans reached the highs of winning their first trophy in over 40 years last season and then suffered the lows of relegation from the Premier League.

Then this summer, the manager who won them that trophy left the club in their hour of need to join their city rivals Aston Villa.

English football was shocked by the arrest in Hong Kong of Carson Yeung Ka-sing, the chief and single-largest shareholder of Birmingham City FC's HKSE-listed holding company, Birmingham International Holdings, an investment, entertainment and sportswear firm registered in the Cayman Islands. BIH shares were suspended from trading.

This has not been a tumultuous few months for Birmingham City. Relegated from the Premiership, Alex McLeish turns traitor and joins Aston Villa, and now Carson Yeung, the largest shareholder of the club has been charged with five counts of money laundering by a Hong Kong court. His arrears could amount to £59m, a nice tidy sum of money.

Claret and Blues start to look very Blue We're beginning to wonder. Not only is ex-Birmingham manager Alex McLeish on the verge of becoming Aston Villa's new manager, but he is set to bring defender Scott Dann with him. This is all getting a bit too suspicious and we can only conclude that Carson Yeung [.

By Chris Wright

Birmingham's acting chairman Peter Pannu is not a happy bunny, and for good reason.

As you may be aware, Brum manager Alex McLeish resigned in time-honoured fashion by email yesterday with one eye on the Aston Villa vacancy.

Pannu and his cronies on the City board are feeling understandably jilted after having recently tied up deals for three new players that were sounded out by Big Eck himself, who chose to do a e-runner while negotiations for a fourth new face (Danny Koevermans from PSV) were ongoing.

Bidding adieu to the Blues
Watching Birmingham City's demotion to the less vaunted throes of the Coca Cola Championship last Sunday was one of those rare karmic events in modern football. Let's be clear for a moment. Birmingham are, and have for some time been a championship outfit.

Success in the Carling Cup final earlier in the season was hardly fitting reward for a side who display such prosaic and uninspiring tactics that only a depressed sadist could truly justify supporting them.

Since I first ventured onto these hallowed pages back in about 1924, there have been those amongst the readership convinced that I've had to move aside my Aston Villa season ticket and "Champions 1981" coffee mug to get to my keyboard, whilst Peter Withe winning the European Cup via both posts from a yard and a half out plays on a constant tape loop in the background.

Alex McLeish has kept his job at St. Andrew's, despite Birmingham's last-day relegation to the Championship, but has been told by the board that he must lead the side back to the Premiership.

The Blues went down, due to a defeat against Tottenham at White Hart Lane and other results not going their way, and there were rumours that Birmingham City owner Carson Yueng would sack the Scotsman.

Here lies Part 3 of my Football Manager series: Looking back at the time(s) when the game took over my life. Read Part 1 and Part 2 first.

It felt good I must say. Usually with any new Football Manager game I would have the tendency to first dip my toe, picking, perhaps, a high end Championship side to build my knowledge of the game.

According to ESPN Soccernet, Birmingham are looking to bring in a few players this month but they will not break the bank for them. Manager Alex McLeish said,

"I've already sat down with Peter Pannu last week and we've agreed that we are going try and bring some players in.