Paul Caddis interview: Birmingham man discusses Gary Rowett's first year in charge

By Nick Lustig

Sunday 7 February 2016 16:18, UK

As Gary Rowett prepares to celebrate a year in charge of Birmingham City, Sky Sports get the inside track from Paul Caddis on what has been a remarkable turnaround at St Andrew's…

Birmingham City are living proof that a year in football is a long time.

Rewind 12 months and the club looked in disarray. Having endured a dismal start to the season, the Blues were once again major contenders for the drop just months after saving themselves from the indignity of relegation to League One on the final day of the previous campaign.

Lee Clark, the man that had inspired that final-day reprieve, paid the price for Birmingham's dreadful start, dismissed with the club languishing in 21st spot and having won only two of their opening 12 matches. His immediate departure did not bring any respite for Birmingham from their poor form. A 1-0 away loss to Blackburn Rovers was followed by a humiliating 8-0 home defeat to Bournemouth, the club's worst loss at St Andrew's in their 139-year history. The situation looked desperate.

Step forward Gary Rowett.

"He came on to the training field the first day and told us he wanted us to be organised and fit," recalls Birmingham defender Paul Caddis. "The first day we did some running, which was pretty tough, but we knew from that day on that this manager wanted us to be fit. We started doing a lot more gym work as well. He wanted us stronger as well as fitter.

"He wanted us to play high tempo. He drilled that into us day by day, to be organised and work as a unit and the work we did then we still do to this day. Each player that goes on that pitch knows what the manager expects of him."

Rowett would surely have been forgiven if he had decided against taking up the post at his former club. The 41-year-old, who enjoyed two seasons at Birmingham between 1998 and 2000, was going well as manager of League Two Burton Albion and laid the groundwork for the club's title-winning campaign, which was completed by his successor Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

But, the lure of reviving his old side's fortunes proved too much for Rowett. His Burton backroom staff of Kevin Summerfield, Kevin Poole and Mark Sale - all former Birmingham players - followed him in making the move.

Appointed just days before a daunting trip to high-flying local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers, who then sat third in the Championship - level on points with leaders Derby County - Rowett's time to inspire an immediate change in fortunes was limited. But, against the odds, the side which had shipped eight goals the previous week produced a display of pure resilience, thwarting Wolves to claim a goalless draw at Molineux.

"The defeat to Bournemouth is by far the worst moment of my football career. It was not good enough by any means and it was clear to see we needed a manager at the side of the pitch. The boys, the fans and the club were all down in the dumps and it could not get much worse than that," Caddis said.

"When the manager did come in, he mentioned on his first day that he would never talk about the Bournemouth game. He said it's all about from when he came in and what he expects from us, not what has happened in the past. There was a clean slate and that was very refreshing. Going from losing 8-0 at home to Bournemouth to getting a point at Wolves was very big for us at that point in time."

The result did not lift Birmingham out of the relegation zone, but it did renew belief among the playing squad. A 2-1 victory over league leaders Watford followed, with Rowett going on to lead his new side to seven wins from his opening 11 matches as manager, losing just twice. That run even included a 6-1 thumping of Reading, Caddis notching the opening goal of that match. A remarkable turnaround given the situation Rowett had encountered on his arrival.

"We got the sense from the supporters at his first home game against Watford that he was one of their own. Instantly there was a buzz about the fans and we sensed that off them," Caddis added.

That new sense of optimism swept around the club and a late surge towards the play-off positions was even being whispered by some supporters. It would have been a truly unthinkable prospect a matter of months previous, but the 'Rowett effect' was showing no signs of slowing down. In the end, the task proved a little too much, though Rowett and his Birmingham side have already shown this season that they will be serious contenders for promotion to the Premier League.

"He has brought so much happiness back to the football club. It is unbelievable what he has done," said Caddis. "Seeing different people smiling every day at training, rather than being on edge and scared to talk about the weekend result if it was negative. Win, lose or draw, now there's a feel good factor back about the place."

Victory at Bolton Wanderers, earlier this month, lifted Birmingham to the heady heights of second place and provided a reminder to the Championship's promotion favourites of their intentions. A 2-0 defeat at Hull City in Rowett's 50th game in charge last weekend provided a slight dampener, but not enough to halt the growing belief in the squad's ranks.

"Expectations rise in football when you are doing well, that's normal," said Caddis. "At the same time, we're not silly, we know this Championship is a very, very tough league and that we've had a good start. We know it can all change within three or four games, a few bad results and you can end up 12th or 13th in the table. The manager has always said 'do as well as you can and if you can do that, wherever we end up I am happy with that'.

"Every team targets the play-offs though, but why just target for the play-offs, why not target coming in the top two or to win the league and see what happens from there? We saw it with Burnley a couple of seasons ago, nobody expected them to go up, but they were organised and had some good individual players."

Given the financial constraints at the club, Rowett has also had to prove himself savvy in the transfer market and continue his fine work with the existing squad.

Birmingham are currently owned by Birmingham International Holdings (BIH), an investment holding company originally set up by Carson Yeung. The Hong Kong businessman, who purchased the club from David Gold and David Sullivan in October 2009, was convicted of money laundering and sentenced to six years in prison in March 2014. Despite having previously lost an appeal in May to quash his conviction, Yeung was released from prison on bail in August and granted the right to challenge his conviction once again.

Receivers, Ernst and Young, have been running BIH since February, leaving few funds available for Rowett, as they seek new owners for the club while Yeung battles to clear his name.

"I imagine the budget he has got to work with is a lot less than some of the other clubs in the Championship," Caddis said. "That has made what he has done an even better achievement. I have played in League One and League Two and there are a lot of players in the team that have worked their way up the leagues.

"But the best thing about us is that there's no one player that stands out more than another member of the squad. Obviously we've got a lot of good young talent, like Demarai Gray who is doing really well, but we're a very tight knit group and we've all been down the leagues and worked our way up. Sometimes I think that can be better."

It will be a sense of déjà vu for Rowett on Saturday as he celebrates a year in charge with a home match against his first opponents Wolves, live on Sky Sports 1HD from 12.00pm.

Caddis added: "Derbies are special games, they have always got that little bit of edge. When you play at home in derby games, the home section is that little bit busier and they are great games to be involved in, but even better when you win them.

"It's a fantastic feeling to hear the fans after the match. But, at this stage, it's no more than three points so it doesn't matter if we are playing Wolves at home or Rotherham at home, it's three points that we are looking to get."