Gary Rowett would be pleased to see some of Birmingham City’s players accept responsibility for relegation and help the club back into the Championship.
Another summer of change is anticipated at St Andrew’s following the club’s relegation to League One. A large number of players are out of contract, five loans expire, and even the futures of those under contract are far from certain.
There will undoubtedly be some who don’t want to drop down to the third tier of English football. In his final press conference as Blues’ interim manager, Rowett encouraged players to stick around and right the wrongs of this season by winning promotion back to the Championship.
“I’m sure over the next period the club have a lot of things they need to do in order to be ready for next season,” said Rowett. “You clearly can’t wait too long.
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“They are going to have to make some big decisions on players’ futures and how they want the squad to look for next season but again, those are things that every club will have to do. That’s just the normal summer.
“You’re in a different division but you still want the best possible players available, you still want to sign players. There are some players there, it would be great if they had the responsibility to say, ‘You know what, I’m going to stay to get this football club back in the Championship.’
“Sometimes it’s easy for people to look at the exit door and look for an easy way out. That’s something that maybe players need to look at.
“Hopefully the rest of it takes care of itself. Hopefully Tony (Mowbray) comes back as the manager to try and get the club back into the Championship. There is going to be a great opportunity if they make the right steps and do it the right way.”
