Eck gets Brum rush as Premiership concludes (part two)

Rollercoaster. A word which is used so much in football its well on the way to becoming a footballing cliche, in that “its been a rollercoaster ride.” I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard managers, players, fans and pundits trot it out in relation to a particular team’s performance, or that of the league season. At the end of the day, these cliches can become quite tiresome.

However, rollercoaster is one which could describe the season that Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish has had. It started with the Scotland team, leading us to victory over Lithuania, France and Ukraine (goals below) as a nation hoped for the miracle of Euro 2008 qualification. A final game defeat to Italy put paid to that, but Scotland, and McLeish, were rightly lauded. National heroes if you like.

But despite saying he would be loyal to Scotland for the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign, he was off 10 days after the Italy match to take over as Birmingham boss, following Steve Bruce’s departure to Wigan. It started well enough for him, with his new charges winning 3-2 at Tottenham in his first game in charge.

But despite just one home defeat in 13, Birmingham have struggled. Games which should have been won were drawn (2-0 up on Liverpool, drew 2-2) while their away form was poor. The January signing of Scotland hero James McFadden couldn’t provide enough firepower and on the penultimate day, they slumped 2-0 at relegation rivals Fulham.

So Eck’s team went into the final day knowing they had to beat Blackburn and hope Fulham and Reading slipped up in their games to have any chance of survival. And City did their part, demolishing Rovers 4-1.

But the day didn’t go to plan. Reading, who started play outside the bottom three, romped to a 4-0 win over dismal Derby at Pride Park, who went down as officially the worst team in Premiership history. The Royals knew that if Fulham failed to win at Portsmouth, then they would stay up at the Cottagers expense.

But it was to be heartbreak for Reading along with Birmingham as Fulham completed a miraculous escape. Danny Murphy’s header 14 minutes from time from Jimmy Bullard’s free-kick sealed a 1-0 win and Fulham’s survival on goal difference.

And their manager Roy Hodgson deserves huge credit. After a 3-1 home loss to Sunderland, Fulham looked doomed with 5 games to go. But a 2-0 win at Reading, followed by a sensational 3-2 success at Manchester City having been 2-0 down and effectively relegated, breathed new life into their chances and in the end they accumulated 12 points from their final 5 games to preserve their status. A terrific effort.

So joy for the Londoners, but bitter disappointment for Reading and Birmingham. Steve Coppell is said to be considering his future at Reading despite his chairman and the fans hoping he’ll stay. Relegation is a bitter pill to swallow for the Royals after a superb 8th place finish last season, and it is reminiscent of Ipswich coming up to the Premiership under George Burley, finishing 5th then going down the next season.

As for McLeish and Birmingham, it was always going to be a struggle for the Blues. Their fans rounded on the board after the match, but now its up to them to prepare to attempt to bounce back immediately. McLeish is a good manager, but I said at the time he was mad to leave Scotland, a flying Scotland, for a struggling club like Birmingham. One wonders if that he wishes in part he was still at Hampden rather than St Andrews.