An American flag flies high above the main stand at St Andrew’s but the owners’ big dream for Birmingham was anything but a battle against relegation to League One. At the start of the week they turned to Tony Mowbray, who cancelled a new-year trip to New York to succeed Wayne Rooney, whose appointment proved, as widely predicted, a grave and giddy misstep.
It is a well-told story but when Birmingham sacked John Eustace in October they were sixth in the Championship. Fast-forward three months and they could be forgiven for peering below given they are seven points above the relegation zone, with two wins from their past 16 league games.
