BIRMINGHAM CITY

Last season was a familiar tale. A disaster for the first two- thirds, then we were saved by a new manager and the usual suspects. The big talking point among the fans is whether our owners will finally get their acts together now that Xuandong Ren has gone.

This season will be different to last because we have a manager who understands this club and its fans.

Instead of going to the football

last season I often had a homecooked meal shortly after the final whistle. I guess it had its perks...

I won’t be happy unless Lee Bowyer [ above] is backed properly and allowed to get on with his job. Our most underrated player is often a full- back: Maxime Colin rarely gives a performance below 6/ 10. Look out for midfielder Ryan Stirk, who started the final two games of last season. He’s signed a new deal. The pantomime villain will be revealed later: there’s no V* lla, no Brentford, no Lee Johnson, nor ( probably) Barry Bannan… The one change I’d make would be new owners, please. Pretty please? Save the date for our Easter Weekend away day in Blackpool.

The best thing about matchday at Birmingham is hearing Keep Right On at full volume on those days when we’ve beaten the odds.

The ground I’m most looking forward to visiting is Craven Cottage – we always travel down there in good numbers.

Other clubs’ fans don’t know that we’re the only professional football club in England to have gone the entire reign of a pope ( John Paul I in 1978) without winning a match. Thank god it only lasted 33 days...

Our key player will be striker Lukas Jutkiewicz [ below], again. He always comes up trumps when needed. The fans’ opinion of the gaffer is that we couldn’t love him more. Bowyer was already a club hero after winning promotion and the 2010- 11 League Cup as a player. Then he won five of his first eight games as boss.

We’ll finish somewhere boring to avoid the late- season panic. I hope.