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From Captain Blue - A True Blue Brummie

Firstly, I don't know where I'm going with this - I've sat on the train home, with lots going through my head and this is some way to try and piece it all together into something resembling sense.

Roughly 20-odd years ago, my Old Man took me down The Blues for the first time. He sat me on a crush barrier in The Kop, and I'm sure he'd have said something like this....

"Right, this is St Andrews where The Blues play. I'll tell you now son - they'll break your heart. But you'll come here lots and in time, you'll grow to love them"

As he always is, Dad was true to his word. I went there lots and sure enough, I grew to bloody love them dearly. And he was also right when he said they would break my heart.

Starting school, it was drummed into me by other lads that we played second fiddle to that team in Aston. We were Blues, we'd won f*ck all and they were just great. Sod that - I knew it took something special to be Blue and I Kept Right On.

I'll always remember the day that we went into receivership. My Old Man picked us up from school and as we always did on a Friday, took us to the newsagents for some sweets. He said that bad things were happening at The Blues. The Mail said something like "Blues going Bust". I was only 8 or 9, but even I knew that we were about to sh*t out.

But, something happened to The Blues that I had NEVER seen before. Our luck had suddenly changed and we were saved by a White Knight in the form of Messrs Gold, Gold and Sullivan. Overnight, the gloom lifted and bizarrely, we were on our way.

From there, it was a wonderful rollercoaster. People came and went. We (as years before) went up and down. It was certainly a new experience for our club but as fans, we never lost sight of our goal. We wanted our boys to be up there - fighting amongst the best in the land, giving them a bloody good run for their money and giving them a bloody nose when we could.

Poor old Barry Fry never got the chance to see if he could take us there. TF, to his credit, tried but was always the nearly man. Then along comes Steve Bruce. He had baggage and many were dying to see the man fail. To his eternal credit, he held his nerve. Somehow, we ended up in Cardiff. What happened next can only be described as the best day in the life of many a Bluenose. You all have your own experiences and it's a day I'll never forget. I'd just been diagnosed as having ME and ended up in bed for 2 days to recover after the final. Did I care? Did I f*ck. My boys had reached the promised land.

So, we're here. It started out like the dream we always envisaged. We were mixing it with the best the country, and possibly Europe, had to offer. We made a fantastic habit of running V*lla all over the shop. We saw players play for and against The Blues that before, were just fantasy.

It's not lasted. We've been in a slump for two years and it's taking it's toll on the St.Andrews faithful. It's created an apathy that I've never experienced before. There's a horrible feeling of resignation surrounding the club that just isn't right. On this basis, I throw down the following challenges:

Steve Bruce - You had the guts to re-join The Blues. You knew the risks, you knew the consequences. You were also aware of the pressure. Despite years of underperformance, you knew that the demand for success was massive. Hell, you began to deliver. You did the unthinkable and delivered us to the promised land. Things haven't worked out as such, and whilst you've been unlucky in some areas, you've made serious mistakes. Despite this, you are a good guy and I'll not actively look for you to walk. The thing is, it's too late to replace you. History has shown that we are now entering sh*t creek without a paddle. Therfore, you are the captain of the ship. What you do over the next 3 months will either consign you to the history books as another nearly man, or you'll fight to live another day, entering Brummie folklore as the Bluenose Houdini. Only you know how you can achieve the latter - it's your choice.

Birmingham City Football Club and it's custodians - As the people in charge and ownership of out club, you realise that relegation would be a disaster. Again, history shows that a relegated team rarely bounces back that easily. I don't know how things lie with you folks. I'm pretty sure that the grand plan doesn't involved another spell amongst the dead mean of the Football League. So, your challenge is thus - demonstrate what being up top means to you. For starters, spouting off in the press about what we're gonna do etc. just isn't good form - Mr O Mellberg perfectly proved that. It's simple really - you need to rally the fans. We're proud, passionate people. Whilst we love our club dearly, we're not easily fooled. At times, I realise that we've had our gripes. But, for the sake of the club, I implore you to now ensure that we pull together and put all our energies into remaining a top flight club.

The Players - Not much to say really. You know what is required. Many haven't delivered when needed, and quite simply, that is not acceptable. From you all, we require, nay demand, 100% passion, pride and determination in everything you do. Anything less, and you'll wish you hadn't been born.

Finally, the most important people - The Fans - This is it. The Premiership. Every one of us dreamt about reaching this place. Now, I'll be the first to admit that it's not been the football utopia we thought it may be. It's ridiculously expensive, a poor customer experience, usually less atmosphere than the bloody Moon, more hassle from police etc. but ultimately, it's surely where we want to be? All those years of hurt and pain, waiting for that chance. We'll we're bloody here and now is the time to stand be counted. Yup, we pay our money and have the right to call them anything under the sun if they apply anything less that 100%. But, I implore you - now IS the time to rally behind our boys. We could end up going down, but I will be buggered if we are going down without a fight. I personally will do anything to give us a chance of staying up here. And, I challenge you all to join me. Together, we can and will make that difference. Whilst we have that chance of staying up, we have to do anything we can. Never leave the ground slagging of boys if you haven't given everything you can. I know you've paid your money and you have the right, but (with all and absolute respect to the owners) this is OUR club. We are the ones who will mourn if we go down, but f*cking hell, we are the ones who will party if we managed to stay up. You know it makes sense.

I'll leave you with a phrase that to me, has been incredibly important...

"Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway"

We may be down amongst the dead men. We may be right up against it. But hey, f*ck it, we're Brummies (technically, even you Slammer). We have never done what we are supposed to. We always go against the norm. So, just to keep things in the natural order, let's have a shot in doing the unexpected. You never know, it may just happen.
posted by kwacky at 11:07 pm