Gary Rowett is excited about Birmingham City’s future under American owners Knighthead - regardless of the outcome of today’s relegation shoot-out with Huddersfield Town.
The game at the John Smith’s Stadium between the Terriers and Blues is likely to decide at least one team’s fate. Blues have to avoid defeat to guarantee their fight goes on until the final day of the season.
Rowett has made Blues more difficult to score against but he hasn’t been able to drastically improve their results. Therefore, relegation to League One in the first season of Knighthead’s ownership remains a possibility.
Despite the short-term pain that would lead to, Rowett is confident Blues’ long-term trajectory is upwards under Tom Wagner and his cohorts. Knighthead have unveiled plans to build a Sports Quarter - including a state-of-the-art new stadium - and Wagner wants it open within five years.
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Rowett doesn’t want fears of relegation to enter his players’ heads in these final two Championship games.
“It’s like saying to a kid on a ladder, ‘Watch out, make sure you don’t fall’,” said Rowett. “If you say that to someone then they are going to start thinking about it and they are going to be less focussed on the task at hand.
“Everyone knows how disappointing it is. What I can say and I can only judge it on the very short time I’ve had here, the support from people I’ve had around the club has been fantastic and the direction and involvement of the owners has been incredible.
“There is an incredibly exciting future for this football club. And my job is to try and make sure next season that’s in the Championship. That is the only focus but long-term, if I was a fan I would definitely be enthused.”
