Lee’s vow to stick with Blues for the long term
LEE Bowyer insists Birmingham City will come through their ‘sticky patch’ and expressed his desire to stay at St Andrew’s for the ‘long term’.
The 45-year-old saw his side eliminated from the FA Cup in meek fashion on Saturday as Blues lost 1-0 to League One Plymouth Argyle without having a shot on target.
Indeed, his team haven’t won since November 27 – a run of five games in which they have scored only four goals – and they face a key few weeks, with matches against the bottom three teams on the horizon.
Bowyer admits it’s a struggle at present but maintains the reasons that brought him to Blues in the first place – and which saw him save the club from relegation just nine months ago – still exist.
And he is more confident than he was a few weeks ago that he will be given help in the January transfer window.
He said: “I am a fighter and I know the reason why I came here. It was going to be a fight to stay in the league and I still came.
“Now, it’s tough, every time we are stepping on to the pitch it is tough. But I am here for the long term, I want to be here. The reason why I came is because I know the potential, I want to be that person that watches the club grow again. Yes, we are in a sticky patch but we will come through that, we all have to stick together.
“Not just me, yes, I am the head person on a match-day, but the players.
“We have had meetings and discussions and we are all still positive here. If you think of the amount of people we have got out, we are still fighting – but, yes, we will be OK.
“I am not someone who panics, I am not a worrier, I try to stay level, win, lose or draw, but we recognise we need to improve things and we are all working hard behind the scenes to make sure that happens and make sure we take the club in the right direction.”
Blues have lost Riley McGree and Dion Sanderson in this transfer window and allowed Caolan BoydMunce to join Middlesbrough. They have moved to bring Teden Mengi and Taylor Richards on loan from Manchester United and Brighton respectively.
Blues are also still in the race to sign United starlet Amad Diallo on a six-month loan.
They were said to be closing in on a move for the 19-year-old last week but reports subsequently suggested a deal was on the verge of breaking down.
However, the Birmingham Post understands Blues are still in the mix and remain one of the options on the table.
Derby and Barnsley are also interested in taking the Ivorian on a shortterm loan.
Rams’ boss Wayne Rooney may be able to swing the deal his way given his United connections, but Blues
clearly have an inside track at Old Trafford given that they have already completed two loan arrangements with the club.
Diallo joined United from Atalanta for a reported £21 million.