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The transfer window should stay shut all winter

David Gold

The January transfer window drew to a close this week and I must admit I feel a sense of relief. Although it is thrilling when bringing in a new player gives the club and fans fresh hope, there is a huge amount of pressure involved in making any new deal.

The window concentrates this pressure into one turbulent month, which has its drawbacks. Only last year we were in desperate need of a centre back and I was confident of signing Gary Cahill from Aston Villa. With minutes to go before the deadline, he joined Bolton. We spent the rest of the season fighting for survival, a fight we eventually lost.

The last few days of a transfer window will always instil panic and a proposal to extend the January deadline day will not change that. It is an extremely inflationary process, driving wages, agents and transfer fees ever higher.

David Gold: clubs should reduce ticket prices

The Birmingham City Board wants to create an initiative to help fans in these desperate economic times, and giving away free tickets for the FA Cup third-round match against Wolves was our way of showing support and appreciation to our season ticket holders who have been loyal through the years.

I advocate reducing ticket prices but it needs to be done collectively; one club cannot do it in isolation. If an average club in the Championship were to reduce their ticket prices by 17 per cent, I estimate that the attendances would increase by less than 10 per cent, costing £2 million in annual revenue. If the aim is to reduce ticket prices by, say, 50 per cent over a three-year period and the attendances increased by, say, 10 per cent in the first year, 25 per cent in the second year and 45 per cent in the third year, this would result in a reduction of income in the final year of £4.5m.

However, if Birmingham were do to this in isolation, no doubt the board would receive OBEs for services to football, but we would get relegated to League One while our competitors who said to hell with the fans would get promoted to the Premier League. That cannot be right.

Stan Collymore holds an idealistic view and is lobbying to reduce all ticket prices but, in practice, a solution requires in-depth analysis. Football needs to come up with initiatives tailored for each league and enforced by the appropriate ruling association.

Each league should agree to reduce ticket prices by 17 per cent per year for three years, accumulating to a total reduction of about 50 per cent, though that should not apply to corporate boxes or premium seating. It could be easily achieved in the Football League but it would be more difficult in the Premier League, as reduced incomes to the top English clubs would benefit the top European clubs, giving them the advantage in European competition, but it is not beyond the wit of man to find a way. 

The rationale behind this proposal is to give football back to the fans and to encourage the young through the turnstiles of their local clubs rather than have them stay at home to watch Premier Leeague sides on television, becoming supporters of the top four clubs. The funding of this initiative would come from a reduction in players' salaries and agent fees.

David Gold: Goal-line ruling needs to change

I have mixed feelings about Birmingham City’s situation at the moment. Although I am delighted with our position in the league, it is hugely disappointing to lose our past two games. Sometimes you need a wake-up call and I hope our loss to Coventry will provide that.

The determination of the players cannot be questioned. We bombarded Coventry in the second half on Monday but couldn’t quite get the ball over the line. This brings me on to our disallowed goal and my quest for a change of rule. The Laws of the Game published by Fifa for the 2008-09 season states, “A goal is scored when the whole ball passes over the goal line” which is then illustrated by a diagram. This rule needs to be addressed.

A goal should be given if the whole ball crosses an imaginary line between the front of the two goal posts. In other words, the whole of the ball has to cross the front of the goal line not the back of it. A linesman has a better chance of determining whether the whole ball has crossed the front of the goal line then the back of the goal line. At present he is required to view the incident through, at best, the side netting and, at worst, the side netting plus the keepers, towel, handbag and water bottle.

David Gold: Credit crunch affects football, too

Football generates so much money that you suspect many presume it will survive the global credit squeeze unscathed yet the truth is quite different. The effects on the sport are not as severe as on other industries but they still exist.

That is because football is a unique business in that contracts, especially in sponsorship, tend to be three-year deals. The top teams who lose sponsors will never struggle to replace them, but the smaller clubs will suffer if sponsors tighten their purse strings.

The relationship between football and the economic climate will come to the surface fully only in August when deals are made and broken. Clubs will have to cut outgoings rather than increase income. Budgets will have to tighten by reducing squad size and salaries. But fans should not be affected as ticket prices won’t increase - they simply wouldn’t attend if prices did.

Exceptional circumstances such as the collapse of West Ham United’s main sponsors can happen. But, although West Ham are without a shirt sponsor, the nature of the contract means that they have lost little from XL going bust as the monies for this season will already have been paid.

David Gold Blog: Mike Ashley needs to smarten up at Newcastle

Mike Ashley has been subject to vast media attention in recent weeks with Newcastle United now up for sale and King Kev leaving. I met Ashley when Birmingham City lost 2-1 to Newcastle last year and it did trouble me to see that not only did he wear his Newcastle shirt on the terraces, but also in the boardroom. To do this as a one-off to demonstrate your allegiance to your team is acceptable, but to wear it all the time gives mixed messages. 

David Gold: Kevin Phillips has given Birmingham a great start

We couldn't have hoped for a better start to the season. Starting the new campaign with two fabulous wins in two matches really sets the standard. Kevin Phillips has played a principle role in our achievements with his two winning goals, first against Sheffield United and then against Southampton, and has already proven to be an intelligent signing which is paying dividends.  It was a great shame for him to receive taunts from the Southampton fans - what better way to silence them with a goal after being on the pitch for less than a minute?

David Gold: Abramovich was right to go for Scolari

Despite England’s lack of presence in this year’s Euros, I have been enjoying the tournament and think it has been a fantastic spectacle of European football. 

There is so little to distinguish between the remaining teams and any one of them could win.  It would be great to see Holland emerge as European champions, but I do have a soft spot for Portugal with the incredible talent they show every match both on the pitch and in the form of the new Chelsea manager Felipe Scolari, so I was disappointed to see them crash out of the tournament last night.

It makes sense to see Scolari stepping in to fill Avram Grant’s shoes at Chelsea. When you are the richest club on the planet you naturally want the very best and with Scolari’s CV there is no better man for the job.

David Gold: Why I nearly walked away from Birmingham after relegation

I am devastated with how last season ended for Birmingham City; it’s a sad end to a season that was full of trials and tribulations culminating in relegation. I hope Birmingham City can learn from the many challenges we have experienced, and it has definitely been a learning curve for me.

Relegation is devastating and painful, but I have never been the subject of such verbal abuse as I received at our last game of the season – from some of our fans. Despite winning convincingly against a strong Blackburn side, relegation was out of our hands, which made it even more painful.  I can understand the fans being upset at relegation, but I felt the tearing down of the goals at the end of the match was a demonstration against me as much as it was about our relegation. It upset me to see the hatred in some of the fans’ eyes that Sunday, which is why I considered resigning as Chairman of our great football club. I have found the last two weeks desperately difficult, but I have received great support from friends and family, and most importantly, a groundswell of true Birmingham City supporters and I am now looking forward to next season.

I can’t help asking myself what could I have done differently.  We handled the Carson Yeung takeover bid badly and I take responsibility for that. We structured it in such a way that it would cause us huge problems if the deal collapsed, and that’s exactly what happened – as a result, Steve Bruce became disenchanted with the club and left for Wigan. There was a silver lining however as we ended up with an excellent management team headed by Alex McLeish.  He has been a revelation since his appointment; the stats speak for themselves, Steve lost seven out of his last eight games, but Alex McLeish averaged one point per game and if we had achieved that through the season, we would not have been relegated.

I am now optimistic for next season. I remember speaking to Barry Fry, our manager in 1994, at 6am the Monday following our relegation to the third division and told him my expectations for the forthcoming campaign: I want to be promoted as Champions, and go to Wembley and win the Auto Windscreen Shield”. “Yes Chairman, no problem is there anything else?” Barry replied.  “ “No that’s it for now Barry”, I said. “Good, can I now get back to bleeding bed?” We had a fantastic season, winning both the League and the Shield. My briefing this time to the manager is not to worry about selling our best players. I believe the team that won 4-1 against Blackburn is good enough to gain us promotion next year and I have assured Alex the board will provide the funds and the support needed to succeed. 

I am not naïve in thinking players won’t leave; there has already been interest in Olivier Kapo. I wouldn’t blame him for wanting to play in the Premiership, but if we lose him or any other key players we will replace them with like-for-like.

Last weeks Champions League final was fantastic, especially the first half.  After that it was a rollercoaster of a game. It would have been great if there were more goals, but for a neutral I was thrilled to see the game go to extra time and penalties. I felt for John Terry, and maybe if Didier Drogba hadn’t thrown such a ferocious tickle under Vidic’s chin, he would not have been sent off and Terry might not have been in the situation where he missed the crucial penalty.

Birmingham can defy the bookies, says David Gold

In his fortnightly blog, the Birmingham City chairman explains why he is proud to be a Premier League chairman and how much it would mean to him to remain so.

With the conclusion of this season drawing near, there is a lot to be said for the quality of the English game. The beautiful game has already been fruitful for many teams this season outside the Premier League, and now we are all caught up in the excitement of arguably the best league in the world - the Premier League.

Unfortunately, the position we find ourselves in at Birmingham is not indicative of a season in which we have had some incredible results.  I have seen that the bookies have priced Birmingham as firm favourites to go down this year, at 1/7.  Fulham and Reading hold more optimistic odds, but it would be fantastic, and not out of the realms of possibility, to see Birmingham beat those odds and prove the bookies wrong.  We still have Blackburn to play at home in our final game, and with our home record, three points are achievable.

Karren and David's arrests are a violation of their human rights

I feel compelled to address the issue that set a cloud over Birmingham City last week, and express my disdain over how Karren Brady and David Sullivan have been treated. Their arrests have tarnished and tainted their reputation unjustly.

It was, to put it mildly, unnecessary to arrest David and Karren, but the police did so to ensure all questions were answered over monies paid. I can guarantee to the fullest that both Karren and David have nothing but the best interest of the club in their hearts and they have received no personal gain in any transfer deal.