Alex McLeish: I'm feeling the pressure in the Championship

Sep 21 2008 Gordon Waddell

SOMEONE once said it's better to travel than arrive. Not for Alex McLeish.

Because he's finding out now that the pressure on him to get to where he's going is far greater than it will be when he lands.

The Birmingham City boss is on a one-way ticket back to the Premiership, the land of milk and money. Any detours from the one-season schedule and chances are he's a goner.

But McLeish left Scotland 10 months ago to prove he belonged with the big boys - and his eyes are still on the same prize.

His biggest problem, though, is living up to the burden of expectation from the boardroom that City will breeze back to the big bucks from the Championship without a bump in the road.

And despite getting off to a flier he's under no illusions about the job he has getting a Premiership-sized club, paying Premiership wages, back to where they need to be.

With deadly rivals Aston Villa playing in Europe last week followed by a sell-out local derby with West Brom today, and the Blues having to grind through a glamourless home game against Blackpool, the gulf between the divisions has never felt so acute.

Sitting in his press conference on Thursday morning with local journalists McLeish is asked: "So Alex, unbeaten in the league - enjoying it?"

He fixes the guy with a stare, ponders for a few seconds then says with a wry grin: "'Enjoy' is the wrong word." He's living with it, coping with it.

Back in his office later Eck admits: "There is more pressure now than there was when I came down.

"We knew it would be tough staying up and we still got it down to the last day. Now? The expectation is huge because the fans think we are a Premiership club. And I'm happy to put that pressure on myself.

"I came to manage in the Premiership and that's still the ambition. I tell you what though - the bottom eight of the Premiership and a right few in the Championship could all play in a league and you couldn't be sure who'd win it. That's how tight the margins are.

"The difference is money, that's what takes you up another level. And the ones who invariably fail in the Premiership have the least money.

"There are exceptions - when Wigan went up I was still at Rangers and David Murray was talking to Dave Whelan about the JJB deal they did.

"I know they were paying extremely low wages - but they were a huge success and stayed up.

Then the next season their wage bill was astronomical - and they were less successful because the team they had built was decimated and the guys they brought in maybe didn't gel as well.

"It's hard because it works both ways. Do you keep a team together that goes down? You think 'Are the players' heads in this Championship?' They all want to be playing at the higher level.

"But if theymove on do they want to be in the same situation we were last season, fighting relegation?

Trappings "Or if you go to a bigger club are you even going to be playing? It's a big conundrum - but the players know what we face now."

One look across the training pitch and you understand the dilemma. In the striking department alone McLeish and Roy Aitken are working with former England hitman Kevin Phillips, Scotland striker Garry O'Connor, Ghana international Quincy Owusu-Abeyie.

Marcus Bent is also there, a man who has had s10million spent on him over the years.

Over the far side Andy Watson is reffing a game of head tennis featuring James McFadden and Cameron Jerome, total cost just short of another s10m.

Eric Black once described this club as having a "Top 10 car park", suggesting the players loved the rappings of the top flight as long as they didn't have to get their hands dirty polishing the paintwork.

The car park's still gleaming and the Premiership's s8m parachute payment keeps the tanks topped up - but McLeish has made sure the sleeves are rolled up in training too.

He's been down this road before.

Ten seasons ago he joined Hibs in the death throes of an SPL season they couldn't rescue then took them straight back up the following season by a 23-point margin.

The chances of the gap being that big are slim but Eck admitted: "The scenarios are similar. What made it easier at Hibs was signing three players who made the difference in that league - Mixu Paatelainen, Franck Sauzee and Russell Latapy.

"This division is not as clear cut because the quality is so good. Look at Mick McCarthy at Wolves, he's been close a couple of times but he has been steadily building and that can be a key factor as Bristol City, Reading and Wigan have shown."

Despite the acceptance of where Birmingham are there's still a bit of what-might-have-been buried deep in McLeish, a regret that he maybe didn't get the backing he needed when it mattered most.

He sighed: "We arrested the slide and stayed in the pack last season when it could have been freefall. We ended up competing right to the end.

Blow "But we didn't do enough business in the January window.

Look at a guy like Gary Cahill who went to Bolton instead of us - pals of mine told me he was worth six points to them in the run-in. One point would have been enough to keep us up.

"That was a blow and plans B, C and D fell by the wayside."

But the detour into the side street of the past is brief - McLeish's focus on where City are headed and who's taking them there is pin sharp. And he has faith in no one more than Scotland talisman McFadden.

He said: "I have guys like Lee Carsley who drives the dressing-room along but James is the one who can take on that responsibility as well.

"He's 25 now, he has the Premier League experience and an aura of an international player about him that he should be taking into every game. All the players look up to him.

"He might still see himself as one of the pack but he can take his responsibility to another level."

McLeish clearly believes he has the team to see him through on the park - and off it he's playing just as good as game himself.

His relationship with the local media is strong despite playing third fiddle behind former SPL adversaries Martin O'Neill and Tony Mowbray. Strong enough even to poke fun at them.

The last question before he leaves is about Kevin Prince Boateng, the frozen-out Spurs player Birmingham are mulling over a move for.

Eck is talking about Boateng's track record to his interviewer, his move from Hertha Berlin at such a young age.

"I'd use the word precocious," he offers, "But I doubt you'd know what it meant ..." Before turning round with perfect timing, rolling his eyes and saying: "... Villa fan."

The journey might be tough but there's nothing to say you can't laugh along the way.