Steve Bruce

I've been unfair to Steve Bruce this season. As someone on a Blues forum has pointed out, this season has been one setback after another: first, Newcastle approached him about their manager's job - which is one of the few he covets. His head was clearly turned by this, but he stayed loyal to the contract he signed at Blues. This may change in the summer if Souness is sacked, but by then at least he won't have left us completely in the lurch.

Then there's been the never-ending stream of injuries - some major (Forssell, Dunn, Izzet - three of our most creative players), some minor, but persistent (Stan Lazaridis the obvious example). By December we had neither fielded our strongest line up, or even the same one from one week to the next.

Certain players didn't work out - Jesper Gronkjer the notable example - and were hounded out of the club by an ignorant fan base.

Other players (or should that be player?) rocked the boat just when it looked like we were getting our season back on track, and undermined the club at a critical time. Even now, that player does not have the humility or intelligence to see what he's done.

A new coach has been bedding in, which has led to fierce criticism of the tactics and personnel from some quarters - in my case, unjustified. Having said that, I was attacking the manager, not the coach - I always thought Black could be an improvement on Bowen, and with Savage out of the picture it looks like he'll realise that potential.

Yet despite all this, Blues have continued to nick points here and there, and stay at least three points outside the relegation zone at all times. And then in January when the chips were down he came up trumps again with a clutch of signings that not only have made the squad looked balanced and strong in terms of depth since the beginning of last season, but have blown the cobwebs away and left us with the promise of a strong end to this season.

Right now most Blues fans just want the season to end so we can regroup, but suddenly the wins against Southampton and Liverpool, which have put the finishing line in sight in terms of safety have revitalised the club from top to bottom. New players have lifted everyone - including the crowd and the manager - and we might yet salvage a top 10 finish this season yet. Especially if they play like they did against Southampton, Manchester United and Liverpool every week...