Blues hierarchy admit to transfer cut

Birmingham's hierarchy have admitted for the first time that manager Alex McLeish will not receive the £40million war chest promised on their arrival at the club.

New owner Carson Yeung marked his unveiling at St Andrew's in October by declaring his intention to hand McLeish a huge transfer budget to strengthen his squad.

But the man controlling the purse strings at St Andrew's, vice-chairman executive and finance Peter Pannu, has confirmed the club plan to rein in their spending in line with other clubs in the wake of the financial crisis which has hit Portsmouth.

He said: "The way clubs are managed, there's a new culture blowing through, post the developments at Portsmouth. You see the debate that the situation has stirred. Management has become more resilient to spending blindly. It has to.

"I think our fans can take heart from the fact I have spent a lot of time with Alex McLeish, and Carson Yeung was with him for two hours on the last occasion he was over here as well.

"They talked about players and how to improve the team. We keep saying we must move gradually and at a sustainable pace as opposed to a one-shot-at-fame, yo-yo kind of rise and bigger fall, the model Portsmouth chose to do.

"In Alex, we have a very, very good manager who understands this, and he understands he will get all the support he deserves too."