Cunningham defends his strong words

Kenny Cunningham's outspoken criticism of Birmingham City drew a predictable response. The owners were miffed that he'd questioned their passion for the club, and while David Sullivan conceded that he made some valid points, David Gold preferred to brand him a "coward" (something Cunningham dismisses by pointing out his criticisms did not come out of the blue, but had been said in private many times during the season), while Steve Bruce admitted to being "disappointed", then allowed an anonymous source to perform a personal attack on Cunningham's character (see here).

Kenny Cunningham has responded this morning in an article in the Irish Examiner (see here). His words are surprising, not least because they reveal an intelligence and eloquence that has been sadly lacking from the response of Bruce and co.

Take this sample quote: "I just felt it had been a very narrow debate in terms of the way we had actually been relegated from the Premiership. There seemed to be a body of opinion that, on one hand, there was a huge amount of bad fortune and, secondly, a lack of professionalism on behalf of the players." Could you see Wayne Rooney saying that?

Cunningham's intelligence and foresight have been swamped beneath a stream of personal abuse and knee-jerk reactions. Sadly for Messrs Gold, Bruce and - to a lesser degree - David Sullivan, they reflect poorly on the name of Birmingham City.

I wonder if this has anything to do with it? In the article criticising Cunningham, it was quoted that, "The source said Cunningham had always been an outspoken voice in the dressing room and liked to moan. 'If you said to Kenny it was day, he would argue it was night. He was a very difficult person to deal with, at times a real pain.'" Cunningham says in the article today that "Anything I spoke about in the article was stuff I had spoken about with the manager while I was with the football club."

Perhaps if Bruce had listened to his captain's criticisms at the time we'd not be facing up to life outside the Premiership now. Perhaps Bruce doesn't like being reminded of the fact - we know he looks dimly on employees going behind his back to talk directly to the board, because ex-coach Mark Bowen was sacked for doing just that. Perhaps the board thinks things are cosy because they rely exclusively on Steve Bruce to tell them what is going on at the club, which colours their experience to hearing exactly just what he tells them. It might explain why Gold is quick to echo Bruce in blaming anything but the manager for our poor season - in fact, Gold's litany of excuses sound like a parrot's imitation of Steve Bruce's own.

A message to Birmingham City FC: please drag yourselves out of the gutter and start to take Cunningham's criticisms seriously. The fan base is waking up to the problems that lie behind the scenes, and no amount of PR spin and hype will work in what will be a difficult season next year.

[Listening to: Pride - Syntax]