Football Season Review

Birmingham will be delighted that they got through a season of struggle off the pitch to emerge much stronger for it. Their overall position of 12th was most impressive after battles to sell the club and no money for new manager Lee Clark to spend. Clark achieved a minor miracle to guide his side to mid-table relying on youngsters of the calibre of Mitch Hancox, Nathan Redmond, Jack Butland and Callum Reilly to guide them home. Butland joined Stoke midway through the reason but returned on loan. Clark has an imbalance with striker Nikola Zigic still on over £50,000 a week yet struggles to pay players 5% of that salary. The ex-Huddersfield boss has undoubtedly had an incredibly positive effect on the side. He changed the system to a 4-5-1/4-3-3 system late in the season. He may have funds available to get more players in over the summer and if he does that there may be reason to believe the Blues can challenge for a Premier League return next season.

Player of the Season: Jack Butland