Birmingham

Blues have never beaten Chelsea in 12 Premier League meetings and will never have a better chance!

Tottenham are a big price (4/1) to win the north London derby at the Emirates and Harry Redknapp’s men will fancy their chances of turning over their rivals. Arsenal have already lost twice at home this term and look shaky at the back.

Bolton continue to improve and Kevin Davies (15/8 to score anytime) will be out to prove a point when Newcastle visit the Reebok this weekend. Davies should have been in the England squad ahead of Andy Carroll and the Trotters frontman will be a man on a mission on Saturday.

If goals are what you are after, then look no further than Bloomfield Road this weekend (4/6 both teams to score). There have been 45 goals in Blackpool’s 13 matches to date, whilst visitors Wolves have not kept a clean sheet yet this season.

The Championship is unpredictable to say the least, but Hull (7/5) could pile more frustration onto Ipswich boss Roy Keane this weekend. The Tractorboys have lost their last two games, to Barnsley and Derby, while the Tigers’ form appears to be improving.

High-flyers Swansea may have their wings clipped this weekend, when they make the long journey up to Yorkshire (Doncaster 6/4, Draw 23/10, Swansea 13/8 – Match Betting). Doncaster have an impressive home record and will prove a tough test for the goal shy Swans.

Sheffield Wednesday’s off-the field problems could be compounded by on-the-pitch League One defeat on Saturday. With all the financial issues hanging over the Owls, MK Dons (5/4) – unbeaten at home this season – will be eyeing up three points.

Manchester City’s title hopes could be crushed by their former boss this Sunday. Mark Hughes’ Fulham (19/10) entertain City at Craven Cottage and the home side can exploit a lack of harmony in the Blues’ ranks.

Andy Murray starts his ATP World Tour Finals campaign on Sunday and the British number one looks doomed to defeat in his first match. The Scot faces in-form Robin Soderling (Evs – match prices), who goes into the tournament off the back of success first Masters title in Paris earlier this month.

South Africa (4/6) will surely prove too strong for Pakistan (9/2) in the second Test in Abu Dhabi, which gets underway on Saturday. The Proteas looked the stronger side in the drawn first Test, but Graeme Smith’s men will prove their quality in the final five-day encounter.

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Alex McLeish

The experienced Scottish boss knows expectations at St Andrew’s have increased after last season’s impressive ninth-placed finish last season and also the investment into the side over the summer.

His side have had an up-and-down start to their Premier League campaign this season and sit 12th in the table with six points. They went down 3-1 to local rivals West Bromwich Albion (6/5 – relegation outright) at the weekend after taking the lead through Cameron Jerome.

There are a number of club fighting for a top-10 finish this season and the Premier League looks as being competitive as it has been in recent years, and McLeish has poured scorn on suggestions Birmingham could finish in the top six by stating it is “ludicrous to suggest that”.

The likes of Manchester City, Tottenham, Liverpool, Everton and Aston Villa (5/2 – Premier League top six) are all likely to be fighting for a top four spot and McLeish knows his side would have to finish above a couple of these to secure a top-six spot.

He has said that he knows the “whole squad” at Birmingham are capable of playing in the Premier League, but he needs to be honest about their aspirations for the season.

“My experiences in the game tell me it is nigh on impossible. We can all dream and have ambition but there are about eight teams in there who, over a length of the season, will always come to the fore,” said the boss.

“Then the rest are fighting for the other places. If we come ninth again, it will be phenomenal.

“I would judge that even better than last season. Finishing in the top 17 is our priority again.”

McLeish is preparing his side for a Carling Cup tie with League One side MK Dons (Birmingham 2/5 to win, MK Dons 5/1, draw 10/3 – 90 minutes) at St Andrew’s on Tuesday night and he is set to give starting spots to summer signings Nikola Zigic, Matt Derbyshire, Jean Beausejour and Martin Jiranek.

The likes of Keith Fahey, Michel and Alexander Hleb are all set to start also and the manager has admitted “the gauntlet is being thrown down” to these players to show him they are worthy of stating in Birmingham’s next Premier League game against Wigan at the weekend.

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Birmingham

Blues supporters woke up on Thursday morning to comments from acting chairman Peter Pannu over McLeish’s demands – described as “a very large amount of money” – and the former Scotland boss’ status in the game when his name was compared with that of Real Madrid’s Jose Mourinho.

But fast-forward to early afternoon and Pannu told the Birmingham Mail that fresh terms could be agreed before the Blues’ next game on Sunday September 12 when Liverpool make the trip down the M6 for a St Andrew’s showdown (Birmingham 50/1 – Top Four Finish).

“This is all nonsense,( said Pannu. “We are just perhaps inches away from Alex signing a contract, possibly by next week.

“Our relationship is phenomenal, we are very strong and close, and I want to dispel this notion that there is anything wrong.

“In fact, I spoke to Alex about the Mourinho reference and we laughed about it. In the whole context of the interview I did, it would not have had a sting to it. But to take out the extract like that made it look worse than it was.

“Mourinho came up because I mentioned that the agent who made the initial approach to me about Alex and his contract represents Mourinho.

“Nothing was meant as a slight to Alex in the context of the conversation I had.”

McLeish appears to have been happy to keep a dignified silence over the issue after refusing to be drawn when unveiling latest signings Alexander Hleb, Martin Jiranek and Jean Beausejour.

Birmingham enjoyed a fantastic run under McLeish last season after setting a new club record of 12 games without defeat in the top flight.

The club eventually finished in ninth spot – their best season in some 51 years – to mark their return to the big time in style after a one-year exile in the Championship.

This time around the Blues have started well and are unbeaten in three games, although they let a 2-0 lead slip against 10-man Bolton at the Reebok last weekend (Bolton 13/2 – Relegation).

Such failure to close out a game will not be lost on McLeish who made 77 appearances for Scotland as a central defender between 1980 and 1993.

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Birmingham

Blues looked like they had finally secured the services of the 24-year-old France international winger when they agreed a club record fee with Wigan following a summer-long pursuit.

However, a late hitch meant that they failed to reach an agreement over N’Zogbia’s personal terms and the player will not be making the switch to St Andrews.

McLeish was disappointed at the outcome as he was hoping the former Le Havre player, who joined Wigan from Newcastle United in January 2009 after falling out of favour at St James’ Park, would help them push on from last season’s mid-table Premier League finish (Birmingham 20/1 – Top-6 Finish).

But the Scot revealed that ‘the goalposts were moved at the last minute despite the club doing everything that had been asked. As a result the deal no longer suited Birmingham and he must look elsewhere for new faces following Sunday’s Premier League trip to Bolton (Birmingham 13/5, Bolton 11/10, draw 9/4 – 90 Minutes) and before Tuesday’s transfer deadline.

McLeish told the club’s website: “It was very important to us as a club to stick to our principals and look after the long-term interests of Birmingham City as we are custodians of the club.

“We remain ambitious and committed to adding extra quality to the playing squad but this deal became one that was not in the interests of the club.

“The Board worked with me extremely hard to try and get this one over the line and I thank them for their support.”

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez will now be hoping to keep N’Zogbia, who was player of the season at the DW Stadium last term, as they look to bounce back from a disastrous start in which they have lost two home games against Blackpool and Chelsea respectively, conceding ten goals in the process.

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