Birmingham

The Blues were one of the surprise packages of last season when, after winning promotion from the Championship, they managed to finish in the top 10.

Many had them down as relegation fodder but McLeish built a side that upset the form book and the Scot is now hoping for much of the same in the new campaign.

McLeish has already made a couple of shrewd signings when drafting in Nikola Zigic and Ben Foster but he wants more and is also keen on Wigan winger Charles N’Zogbia.

The Blues boss admits that the Frenchman might be out of his reach for now but the ambition is there and McLeish is clearly intent on trying to move the club on to the next level.

“That one looks as if it is dead at the moment,” he said of the N’Zogbia move. “I’m not saying totally dead, but it looks like a difficult one, given the asking prices.

“Whether we can go to that level I’m not so sure, so maybe that’s for another day. We are looking at three or four other situations.”

McLeish has the backing of new owner Carson Yeung and the money is there for him to spend where he sees fit. The main problem for the Blues is that other clubs in the Premier League have much more and trying to bridge the gap with the top clubs is becoming almost impossible.

It is not too long ago that clubs like Birmingham could start the season with a real hope of making the top seven, which could lead to a place in Europe, but now it looks as though the top seven are starting to forge a gap between themselves and the rest.

Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham have emerged as serious Champions League contenders and when you add them to the ‘big four’ that have dominated in recent seasons, it is hard to see Birmingham getting into Europe via the league.

The Blues are 22/1 to make it into the top six but that looks highly unlikely unless the likes of Villa have a shocking campaign and Birmingham capitalise.

McLeish will no doubt say that staying in the Premier League is the number one objective but he will have his sights set high again and a top 10 finish will again be the order of the season.

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