birmingham city v arsenal - follow live text commentary

... they have won just one in the last four - at portsmouth - and back-to-back defeats against sunderland and at blackburn rovers on wednesday has locked alex mcleish's men in ninth spot

alex mcleish urges strong refereeing to counter arsenal mind games

... alex mcleish has called on the referee howard webb to be strong in the face of arsène wenger's mind games as arsenal prepare to return to st andrew's today for the first time since eduardo da silva broke his leg and dislocated his ankle following martin taylor's clumsy challenge ... taylor has since left birmingham to join watford and mcleish insisted that everyone at the club has "moved on" following the tackle over two years ago that prompted such a furious response from wenger ... the arsenal manager has been outspoken about the physical treatment his players have received on many occasions since that raucous match at st andrew's, which marked the beginning of the end of their title challenge, and mcleish believes that, at times, the frenchman is trying to influence referees ... "mcleish has no doubt, however, that webb is equipped to deal with not only wenger's psychological ploys but also any potential fallout from the eduardo incident ... "they [officials] have to be strong at premier league level," added mcleish, who said that he would not condone the provocative "martin taylor" chants birmingham fans sang at the emirates stadium in october ... "not that mcleish expects webb to have an overly physical match on his hands today

mcleish wants to forget past

... birmingham city manager alex mcleish insisted his side have moved on from eduardo's horrific leg-break as arsenal prepare to return for the first time since the unfortunate incident ... taylor has since left for norwich city and mcleish wants to forget about the event and turn his attention to the game against the premier league title chasers ... speaking to reporters, mcleish said: "we have moved on

arsene wenger cant forgive martin taylor for horror tackle on eduardo

... ' squeeky bum time again: but premier league prize is bottom line for carlo ancelottisqueeky bum time agian: but fergie predicts united will win title on last daysir alex ferguson questions fa decision not to extend thomas vermaelen's ban for a 'frivolous' appeal arsenal's easy run-in counts for zero in hunt for glory, insists fergusoncarlo puts positive spin on chelsea euro exit as he looks for title race edgebirmingham v arsenal: no new injuries for alex mcleish with lee carsley among absenteesbirmingham city fc

arsène wenger still angry over martin taylor tackle on eduardo da silva

... "alex mcleish, meanwhile, has called on the referee howard webb to be strong in the face of wenger's "mind games" ... wenger has been outspoken about the physical treatment his players have received on many occasions and mcleish believes that, at times, the frenchman is trying to influence referees ... they [officials] have to be strong at premier league level," added mcleish, who said that he would not condone the provocative chants birmingham fans sang at the emirates stadium in october

craig gardner digs deep to keep birmingham in with a shout for europe

... "anybody who has any doubt about him [because of his villa connection] should realise now that he's a proud local blues fan," said the manager alex mcleish ... in recent weeks that has enabled mcleish to practise rotation for the first time, a welcome option as players who excelled earlier in the campaign started to suffer from fatigue

birmingham 1 wigan 0- make my men as tough as rooney demands mcleish

... wayne rooney's name will be prominent in alex mcleish's mind over the next few days after the scot raced to his first target of an incredible campaign ... streetwise city: mario melchiot was harshly penalised when keith fahey fell, securing a penalty for birminghamthe reason that mcleish has rooney on his mind is because he wants birmingham players to be able to develop their fitness in the same way that the manchester united star has ... having reached the 40-point mark that should guarantee survival, mcleish now has a cast-iron case to push his paymasters over the facilities at birmingham's wast hills training base and the club's infrastructure ... despite the protestations of former owner david sullivan, they lag way behind several of their contemporaries and mcleish wants to beef up the off-field support for his squad ... man with a plan: alex mcleish is urging his board to improve the training facilities at birminghammcleish feels he can still draw improvement from players such as match-winner james mcfadden ... but he has struggled with injury and mcleish needs a unique selling point if he is to attract the sort of players he wants to improve ... 'to mcleish's credit, that's one thing he now doesn't have to worry about

kris boyd under the microscope in scots scouting mission for birmingham

... birmingham city manager alex mcleish will send scouts to watch rangers' striker kris boyd when he makes his scotland comeback against the czech republic on wednesday

alex mcleish sanguine as birmingham put their yo-yo days behind them

... while the benchmark of 40 points does not guarantee survival, west ham having dropped with 42 in 2003, that alex mcleish's team have reached it with 11 games remaining suggests that after the ups and downs of recent years brum are no longer ripe for sponsorship by otis ... the win against wigan on saturday was not a pretty sight, a thud-and-blunder affair decided by a dodgy penalty, but it left mcleish in a justifiably sanguine frame of mind ... the managers, mcleish and roberto martínez, had predictably partisan opinions about the decision

birmingham 1 wigan 0- mcfadden penalty piles on wigan woe

... deadly from 12 yards: james mcfadden opens the scoring from the penalty spot'an outstanding feat by the players and a squad that cost £10million to assemble,' said manager alex mcleish