Emile Heskey: 2024/25 could yield contrasting fortunes for my former clubs Birmingham and Bolton
The Blues Have Shown Their Promotion Intent
Birmingham City moved into third in the league following their last-minute winner against Wigan Athletic at St Andrew’s.
In truth, I’m expecting an exceptional season from Birmingham. I feel they’ll be comfortably promoted. The signing of last season’s League One top scorer, Alfie May, along with smashing the division’s transfer record for Jay Stansfield just shows the intent of the club and their desire to get back into the Championship as soon as possible.
This is the Rebirth of Birmingham City
A lot of people will have looked at the takeover at Birmingham City and think it’s all a bit Hollywood, what with the involvement of the likes of NFL legend Tom Brady.
But these guys are here to win. They aren’t invested in the club to mess about. They’ve come here to make a statement and I’m sure if you give them five to 10 years then you’ll see the progression of the club.
I know they got relegated under their watch last season, but that is probably the start of what can be the bounce-back of a big football club. Spending £15 million in League One on one player is a big deal and I fully anticipate them going straight back up via the top two.
Wanderers Are Suffering a Playoff Hangover
Make no bones about it, everyone connected to Bolton Wanderers will be disappointed with their start to the new League One season.
I think there is a genuine hangover from their playoff final defeat to Oxford. Wanderers have come so close to a return to the Championship on two occasions now and it can take its toll.
For me, this club should never be down where it is now in League One, it’s far too big for the third tier of English football. But you have to earn the right to play at the highest levels.
They have to get their players to fight. They have an exceptional manager in Ian Evatt, who has demonstrated his ability as a manager time and time again. Now is the time when you’ve got to show up. In reality nothing is won at this stage of the season – although a fast start never hurts.
I think back to when I was playing for Leicester and we won almost all of our remaining 10 games of a season to sneak into the fourth and final play-off spot. We went on to win the play-off final and play in the Premier League.
It all goes to show the fine margins between success and failure. Although Bolton’s season is far from over, they need to bounce back quickly and set the tone for the rest of the season.
Leicester Need to Stay Resilient to Stand Any Chance of Staying Up
It’s going to be fascinating to see just how Leicester get on in the Premier League this season. They deservedly got automatic promotion last season. I can only see it being a tough year for the Foxes, especially with a new manager – Steve Cooper – who prefers a different playing style and formation to Enzo Maresca.
They look like a totally different team to the one that played under Maresca, who moved into the Chelsea hotseat before the start of the season. However, I do have faith that they could stay up.
They’ve managed to bring in some new faces like Odsonne Edouard, Jordan Ayew, Oliver Skipp and Facundo Buonanotte. All of whom are solid signings, in my opinion.
No doubt bringing in new players can give everyone else in the Leicester squad a little shot in the arm. It gives them a kick up the backside to train harder for their starting place and it also motivates them knowing they’ve got quality which can help to win games.
I think they’ve got half a chance of staying up with these signings but it’ll be a tough season which I’m sure will go down to the wire.