Birmingham City ace offers insight into Lee Bowyer’s impact at St Andrew’s so far | OneFootball

Birmingham City midfielder Gary Gardner has suggested that Lee Bowyer has made a real positive difference for the Blues since he took over from Aitor Karanka and that he has shown he has the right qualities for the job.

Bowyer’s appointment as Birmingham manager has given the club a new lease of life and breathed fresh hope into their chances of surviving in the Championship. The Blues’ 1-0 win against Swansea City on Good Friday has given them breathing space ahead of the bottom three and means they have claimed two wins in his first three matches in charge at St Andrew’s.

It is going to be a nervy ending to the campaign for all of the sides in and around the bottom three, but Birmingham look a side with much more confidence and belief since Bowyer’s arrival. The Blues will have to keep putting points on the board though to survive and the tough fixtures keep on coming with a clash against Brentford on Tuesday.

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Speaking to Birmingham Live, Gardner revealed that Bowyer has been able to instill more organisation into the side and he also believes the fact that he used to play for the club means he knows what it takes to perform at St Andrew’s.

He said: “You can tell he is a real class manager. He has only been here a short amount of time but, what he has put onto us lads, we are really impressed.

“Everything is so clear and he has just made it so simple for us. We’ve played three of the top six under him and got six points.

“Brentford will be another tough game and I’m sure the gaffer and the staff are working really hard on preparing for that and it just makes it easier for us players.

“He has come in and is a breath of fresh air. He knows what it takes to wear the Blues top. He has done really well at Charlton and we’ve worked really hard on the team shape and the way we want to win.

“You could see against Swansea, a very disciplined performance and he has drilled that into us.”

The verdict

Gardner’s assessment of Bowyer here shows that he has managed to win over the squad very swiftly since taking over from Karanka, and that has now meant he can have everyone pulling in the same direction and fighting on the field to ensure the club do not suffer relegation this term. It was an appointment the club had to get spot on and it appears they have managed to do that.

Bowyer showed his ability to organise and also inspire fight from his players in the face of adversity during his time in charge of Charlton and those are qualities that he has shown he can bring to the table at St Andrew’s. Birmingham need to stick with a manager at some stage and afford them time to build something and it seems like they might have found the right candidate for that now.

There is still work that needs to be done to ensure their survival, but these sorts of messages coming out of the club show that everyone is united and that the squad is in a much better place than it was a few weeks ago. That should be enough with their added extra quality individual-wise compared with teams around them and they should just about get over the line you feel.