Birmingham City announce opposition for pre-season tour to Austria

Jun 30 2009 by Andy Walker, Birmingham Post

Birmingham City have announced the opposition for their forthcoming pre-season tour to Austria.

Alex McLeish’s squad report back for pre-season training on July 8 and will then jet out to their Alpine base ten days later. Whilst there, the club will face a mixed bag of opposition in preparation for their return to the Premier League.

Their first pre-season fixture, on July 21, should prove to be their toughest test when they take on German Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart at Zel Am See Stadium. Managed by former Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers defender, Markus Babbel, Stuttgart recently finished third in the German top flight.

Birmingham will then face another German side, albeit a lesser threat, two days later when they take on midtable Second Bundesliga team FC Augsburg at Westerndorf Stadium.

The final fixture of the Blues’ ten-day tour will be against Saudi Arabian team Al Hilal. who finished second in their country’s top flight, on July 26.

Reflecting on the fact that his side’s toughest pre-season match will be first up, McLeish said: “It isn’t ideal because I didn’t really want such tough opposition in the first game, but they would be at the same stage as we are in terms of fitness and I will probably use the whole squad in the match.”

Birmingham are also already scheduled to face Dagenham and Redbridge, Nottingham Forest, Crewe Alexandra and Spanish club Real Sporting de Gijon when they return from Austria.

Whether Barry Ferguson, Glasgow Rangers’ unwanted midfielder, ends up playing any part in any of the above fixtures still remains to be seen.

It appears that Birmingham manager McLeish is still looking to assess other options to strengthen his midfield before deciding whether or not to launch a bid of around £1 million for the former Scotland international.

Speaking on the issue of the 31-year-old possibly becoming his seventh summer signing (or eighth when Lee Bowyer’s permanent deal is eventually announced), McLeish said: “Barry is definitely someone we’ve given consideration to among others. I don’t want to commit myself right away to the midfield situation.

“There is still a wee bit to go, a little bit of work to be done. We hope to bring in a midfielder of real quality who can go anywhere in the league and not be fazed by taking the ball.

“Ferguson has come in late in the day in terms of knowing he is now available. We won’t be making our mind up right now and no deal with Barry is imminent.”

nSamuel Eto’o is said to be virtually certain to snub Manchester City’s “stratospheric” offer.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta confirmed that big-spending City were looking to make Eto’o the highest-paid player in the world.

The Eastsiders denied the figures but confirmed a £25million bid had been lodged for the Cameroon star and said they were hopeful of concluding the transfer at some point this week.

However, it seems that Eto’o is unhappy at being forced out of the Nou Camp, where he has one season of his present contract left to run.

Rather than accept the riches of offer at City, he is preparing to see out the final year of his contract before leaving Barcelona for nothing next summer.

Having missed out on Kaka last January, such a rejection would continue to prove that City will struggle to attract the marquee signing their Abu Dhabi-based backers have been looking for without the added lure of Champions League football.