Ren opens up on Blues’ woes, saying: Blame me!
BIRMINGHAM City chief executive Dong Ren has put his hand up and admitted he is accountable for some of the club’s struggles over the last three years.
Blues’ fans have seen the club fighting for survival on the last day of the season for three of the last four campaigns, almost falling into League One.
Ren was at the helm to oversee a catastrophic spending spree during the summer transfer window of 2017, which ended in a nine-point deduction after Blues spectacularly broke the EFL’s profit and sustainability rules.
He has now spoken of his involvement in the turbulent time at St Andrew’s, describing the situation as ‘mental’.
He was initially flippant but fronted up when quizzed about past mistakes, saying: “What were the mistakes? How much time do we have here?” before adding: “Look, this club has been through a lot.
“Not just in the past three years, but in the last decade. It has been mental. A lot of things have happened. It wasn’t good enough. It’s as simple as that.
“Do I include myself in the criticism? All day. I work for this club and I’m accountable if things go wrong. I’ll be the first person to step up and take responsibility. I’m still here.
“It’s been no one else’s fault. If something has not been done properly, then that’s my fault.
“It’s my job. So let’s see if I can do a better job now, in the next 12 months, than I have done in the past three years.”
Ren did broker a deal with Borussia Dortmund for Jude Bellingham, which could see Birmingham’s coffers benefit to the tune of £50 million, in terms of initial transfer plus sellon fee, if the teen sensation ever moves on from the Bundesliga giants.
But the club remain heavily in debt, owing more than £80m to their holding company, and St Andrew’s has also been sold to an associated company to comply with financial regulations.
Wigan are under Chinese ownership and were placed into administration in highly unusual circumstances two months ago.
Blues are listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Given the debt and past financial problems, fears have been growing about the club’s sustainability.
Having banked over £40m from the sale of Bellingham and Che Adams to Southampton, Birmingham should be well-placed and Ren confirmed there are no outstanding issues.
He added: “I’m sorry to hear what happened with Wigan. I feel sorry for them but I don’t know what happened.
“All I can say is that Aitor (Karanka) and I aren’t just the chief executive and manager of this club. First, we are guardians. We have to look after this club thoroughly.
“We haven’t done much in the last two or three windows and there’s been a reason for all of that, which has been well documented.
“This club is in very good shape. Not many clubs could have recovered from what happened to us three years ago.
“There aren’t any profit and sustainability issues now.
“Not at all.
“We don’t owe a single penny to any other club with respect to a transfer fee. Nothing at all.”