Birmingham City continue with record-breaking fix | Football

WILL JAY AND SILENT TOM BRING BACK?

St Andrew’s may be an unremarkable football ground in England’s second city, but it has a different name these days: St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park. Why is that? Knighthead Capital Management LLC is the investment vehicle of the club’s chairman, Tom Wagner, who heads an operation specializing in “distressed and high yield companies.” Ah.

In need? Sounds about right. The Blues are one of English football’s ugly ducklings, a club from a huge metropolis that has won just two major trophies in almost 150 years of existence. Compared to Jasper Carrott, Mike Skinner and Roy Wood, being a Blue seems like a grim existence. It’s been a while since Obafemi Martin’s Arsenal picked their pockets to steal the Milk Cup in 2011, but it’s been a while since Villa – yes, Villa – were beaten over two games to win the same trophy in 1963. And if Villa, West Brom and Wolves have all had their problems, the Blues – the club of Gil Merrick, Trevor Francis, Bob Hatton, Ian Handysides, Paul Tait and others – have often been as hopeless as any of them.

High yield? Like some of his American compatriots, Tom Wagner sees opportunities in English football. Knightshead Park reflects the purchase of land around St Andrews for further commercial activity. “A significant step towards creating a vibrant sports district and a new world-class stadium,” as the PR bump declared after the purchase of an old racecourse. American ownership is not a new beast in English football. It ranges from former New England Patriot Terry Smith at Chester City, which did not end well at all, to FSG’s truncated professionalism at Liverpool. And then there’s Chelsea, now a byword for evangelism for the power of the market. And so far in Birmingham it’s been more Chelsea than Liverpool. Last season it was the Wayne Rooney experience, 15 games of failure that even the influence of another Patriot, Tom Brady, the most successful 3.3% owner who “helps advise the sports science department on health, nutrition and recovery programmes,” could not prevent.

Wagner took the relegation on his shoulders. “Our commitment to the improvement of this great club transcends this unfortunate outcome and firmly anchors us in our continued ambition for what lies ahead,” he boomed. The solution? To throw more money at it, £30m – £9m more than Manchester City this summer – on 11 players. The main event was the League One record-breaking signing of Jay Stansfield for a reported £15m – it could be even more – announced via Stansfield poking his head into a disgraceful social media post by Cuddly Tom. Fulham fans were waiting for Stansfield to become their own hero when it comes to bragging about goals, especially when he scored for the Blues in the Carling Cup last week. “It’s business, it’s not a normal amount of money for that type of club,” grumbled Marco Silva. Blues boss Chris Davies is in his first job, but you may recognise him as a former bailiff to Brendan Rodgers and Ange Postecoglou. How are you? Three wins, one draw, level with equally ambitious Wrexham and Stockport. Keep going straight to the end of this road and that big return could well pay off.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The book is basically closed. I think that when you are 26, the ambition should be sporting and not financial. He could have stayed at Ajax, that is not bad either. And I think they pay well too. But hey, everyone has a different opinion and it is his or her choice. I personally would not have made it” – Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman puts an end to Steven Bergwijn’s international career after he completed a move to Al-Ittihad. Asked if this was double standards after including Al-Ettifaq’s Georginio Wijnaldum (33) in his European Championship squad, Koeman replied: “He had problems at Paris Saint-Germain and this was the only chance for him to play. Plus, there is an age difference.”

There is something fitting about Oasis and Manchester City entering into a ‘partnership’ in the current zeitgeist; rich people and corporate brands with more money than they will ever need or want still stoop to claiming that selling junk to people with less money than them is actually about magic and legacy rather than just money” – Noble Francis

Sad news for Uruguay fans as Luis Suarez retires from international duty. That front line will never have the same bite again” – Neil Bage

I’ve read enough of David Hills’ old Said & Done columns to know that the Manchester United hierarchy’s full-throated endorsement of Erik ten Hag is effectively the kiss of death” – Angus Chisholm.

In yesterday’s Memory Lane (full email edition), when you said ‘Viz was big then’, what on earth did you mean by ‘was’? As they say themselves: ‘Viz has been the third or fourth* funniest magazine in Britain (*possibly fifth) for over 40 years. Now four decades on the road and suffering from hairy ears, stress incontinence and piles, Viz is firmly established as a national institution, on par with Broadmoor Hospital, the DVLA and the Porton Down Chemical Weapons Research Facility.’ Mind you, they’ve been going downhill since they stopped hiding Jimmy Hill in the cartoons” – JD Laux.

Send letters to [email protected]. The invaluable winner of today’s letter o’ the day is… Noble Francis. You can view the general terms and conditions for our competitions here.