McLeish safe at Birmingham…for now

Alex McLeish will remain in charge of Birmingham next season, but is expected to orchestrate an immediate return to the Premier League.

Birmingham were relegated on Sunday after two seasons in the English Premier League, despite winning the Carling Cup in February.

Scotsman McLeish oversaw the club’s automatic promotion to the top flight in 2009 after taking the club to second place in the Championship.

And it appears the former Rangers and Scotland boss must repeat that achievement if he is to survive beyond the next campaign.

“The board regrets yesterday’s result and subsequent relegation and feels that supporters, who have continued to back us magnificently, have been let down,” Acting Chairman Peter Pannu said in a statement.

“The club can confirm that manager Alex McLeish’s job is safe but that the board will expect him to lead the side back to the Barclays Premier League in the 2011/12 season.”

“The board will take stock of what went wrong this season despite Carson Yeung’s promised injection of 40 million pounds in funds – not 80 million as the media wrongly assumed – and will closely discuss and implement appropriate procedures to ensure a speedy return to the top flight.”

“Finally a word for our terrific supporters, who are no doubt feeling the pain today like everyone else connected with the club.”

“We thank you for your tremendous backing – something we are confident we will still have moving forward as we embark on looking to make an immediate return to the Barclays Premier League.”