A Europa league team in the Championship?
Birmingham city’s win over Arsenal has left them with a spot in the Europa league, and quite deservedly so, but would the Europa league accept a financially failing team? Portsmouth were rejected in 2010, for being in administration, and it is entirely possible that the Blues could be rejected on the basis of their current worrying financial situation.
What is an even more interesting concept is a Championship team playing against top flight European opposition. At the beginning of the season, the pundits spoke of the three W’s (Wolves, Wigan and West Ham), but now the focus has been shifted to the three B’s (Birmingham, Blackpool and potentially Blackburn with their recent string of poor form).
As it is quite clear that none of the afore mentioned W’s are out of the relegation battle, all of the B’s are within 1 point of the drop zone as well. The relegation candidates are all capable of lifting themselves out of their misery and escaping that dreaded end to the season, as West Ham demonstrated against Liverpool. Whilst only one win would see most of the teams progress significantly up the table, one must consider the fixture lists, with every single team playing at least one of the big four in the climax of the season. It is without a doubt that no team below 12th is safe.
Birmingham must steel themselves for the road ahead, and I believe firmly that McLiesh’s decision to bring Matt Derbyshire on in Saturday’s FA cup game was the right one. Going for all or nothing was the correct approach, as the Premier League must now be the main priority. Furthermore, Nathan Redmond and Jordan Mutch had promising games, the latter winning man of the match, and positives must be taken. The Blues have already had their first trip to Wembley in fifty years or so, and I think two in the space of one season would be a little too much to handle.
Will Birmingham city be playing the likes of Atletico Madrid and Scunthorpe in the space of a week? That remains to be seen, but in the mean time the premier league relegation battle is a fascinating one, albeit one that no one wants to be involved in. Bring on the rest of the season.
