Birmingham City might want to exercise caution in order to avoid getting too ambitious with their plans for a new stadium.
Dion Dublin thinks that between now and the end of the season, the Blues should instead concentrate on getting results on the field.
Since his Knighthead Ltd firm acquired the Championship team last summer, Tom Wagner, the club’s new chairman, has demonstrated a great deal of desire.
Birmingham has added some intriguing players throughout the transfer window, but they have also had some big managerial changes over the season, which have not always been successful.
According to new ideas that have surfaced, Wagner may be planning to grow the team off the field in the years to come.
Birmingham unveils ideas for a new stadium
The club said last week that they had bought land in Bordesley Green and intended to carry out several improvements there.
A brand-new, cutting-edge stadium with a 62,000 capacity is one of the land expansions they plan to make.
Given the spectacle that could result, it goes without saying that this will thrill club supporters greatly.
Before actually moving forward with plans to construct such a ground, Dublin feels Birmingham City needs to handle a few additional issues.
Dion Dublin responds to proposals for the Blues stadium
There have been a lot of discussions on the possibility of the club building a new stadium, which is maybe not surprising considering the scope and importance of the project.
Dublin is dubious, though, as to whether that will benefit the Blues if things are not handled properly on the field first.
Birmingham World cited the former Aston Villa striker in response to inquiries over the team’s plans for a new stadium: “Birmingham fans will love the chat around a new stadium.”
They will adore the new stadium, but that may never happen if the present is so bad. It’s great if everything off the pitch is going well and working, but it doesn’t matter if things aren’t going well on the pitch.
“If I were at Birmingham, I would walk before I could run because it has to be correct when you cross the white line. If I were a fan, I would want them to take it step by step and proceed from there.”
Birmingham is still fighting for relegation.
Until the end of the season, of course, the Blues are still trying to stay in League One.
Birmingham is currently one point above the relegation zone in the Championship table, with three games remaining in the campaign.
| Championship Table (As it stands April 15th) | ||||
| Team | P | GD | Pts | |
| 17 | Blackburn Rovers | 43 | -14 | 49 |
| 18 | Plymouth Argyle | 43 | -8 | 48 |
| 19 | QPR | 43 | -17 | 47 |
| 20 | Stoke City | 43 | -19 | 47 |
| 21 | Birmingham City | 43 | -16 | 45 |
| 22 | Huddersfield Town | 43 | -23 | 44 |
| 23 | Sheffield Wednesday | 43 | -31 | 44 |
| 24 | Rotherham United (R) | 43 | -53 | 23 |
They are next in action on Saturday afternoon, when they make the trip to the New York Stadium to take on already-relegated Rotherham United.
Birmingham need to be wary with new stadium plans
It does feel as though this is a rather fair assessment of the situation from Dublin.
Of course, you can’t blame Birmingham City for having plans like this, since it would be a major boost for them to secure a stadium of this nature.
All those associated with the club would undoubtedly like it, given the magnitude and message that an arena this large would convey.
But it looks like building this stadium won’t be cheap, which might put Birmingham under financial strain and necessitate reallocating finances from other parts of the team.
That might get more difficult if they incur the financial loss of going down to League One. It might be difficult to fill and even harder to get a return on their investment if they are at that level when the stadium opens.
In light of this, it appears that Birmingham may have some major developments over the next several weeks, both in terms of their Championship standing and Wagner’s ambitious aspirations for the team.