Here is another article by Dale.

You’re Alex McLeish. You have players like Michael, Gardner, Phillips and young Jake Jarvis at your disposal. You have guided your team to premier league safety with ten games still to play. What’s your next move?

The man himself has reiterated his desire to push as high up the table as possible before the end of the season. He has been quoted as setting 51 points as a new target. But with a team of regulars approaching their 35^th game of the season legs and minds will inevitably start to tire. Or will they? With this in mind, does McLeish opt to introduce the likes of Michael and Gardner on a regular basis and try to draft in some fringe players to see out the season and give some invaluable experience to the young lads. Or does he maintain the stance of consistency and stick with his strongest team. The key to this is balancing both.

Nobody can deny the effort, desire and commitment the team has put in this year and the proof is in the pudding. 43 points with ten games to spare. This must have taken its toll, physically and mentally, especially on the starting 11 who went 13 games unchanged. But with the summer on the horizon, and possible transfer targets keeping a close eye on us, does McLeish look to make one last charge up the table and field his strongest team for the remaining games. Personally, I would like to see us finish as high as possible, making Blues a more attractive prospect for would-be signings. A top half finish would be an amazing achievement and in the position we are currently in, looks a certain possibility. Everton, Arsenal and Liverpool all travel to St.Andrews in the coming weeks along with away ties to Manchester City and The Vile so it is no foregone conclusion that a finish in the top 10 is guaranteed.

I believe McLeish is the type of manager with ambition and desire at the heart of his thoughts and will go for broke! He will start to implement one or two players into the team but the fundamentals of the starting 11 will remain. With this, the character and spirit of the team will rub off on the players coming in, rather than change the essence of the team with one or two with the winning mentality. A lot of what will happen depends on the players and if they fancy the fight now the war is over. Each individual player will react differently but I think we have enough “troops and winners” in our side to finish the season with a flourish.

McLeish now has a nice dilemma on his hands and the forthcoming weeks will tell us a bit more about the stern Scotsman and his ambitions for the club.

Dale Moon