The Guardian from London, Greater London, England • 38

8 Football The Guardian Saturday May 1 1 2002 How Blues' Bruce quickly exceeded the Gold standard Adrian Milledge meets the Birmingham manager ahead of tomorrows First Division play-offfinalagainstNorwich injury-time winner from Stern John at the New Den. Now, despite drawing the "unlucky" south dressing room for tomorrow's final, they are favourites to beatNorwich City to a place in the Premiership. Bruce recalls what he found at the club after the end of the extended gardening leave forced on him by his former employer, the Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan. "I remember how flat everything was," he recalls. "There were caretaker managers in charge for 10 to 12 games which, looking back, was far too long.

I guess the delay in me not being able to take the job did not help." His chairman David Gold agrees: "Our plan was that Steve would have been with us in October, giving him time to produce the results. But because of legal problems his arrival was delayed. It is quite remarkable that we actually made the play-offs." Bruce can also recall what state the club was in when, as a 36-year-old and after captaining Manchester United to their second Double, he became Francis's first signing back in 1996. "It was a real culture shock," he says. "We used to train near Birmingham airport and the As the author of three works of footballing pulp fiction, Steve Bruce perhaps was dually qualified to manage Birmingham City.

This was the club once owned by a scrap-metal merchant who, when answering the telephone, pretended to be a caretaker if a creditor was calling. Ownership then passed to a pair of rag-trade kings before a trio of multimillionaires, who had made their fortunes from publishing raunchy magazines, rescued the club from bankruptcy. They appointed a glamorous but capable 23-year-old as managing director, Karren Brady, who went on to marry the club's star striker. Then there were the man agers trying to succeed where other masters of the art, including Stan Cullis, had failed: barmy Barry Fry and Trevor Francis, the club's most celebrated player. Now it was Brace's turn and, in describing what he found on his arrival at St Andrews and has achieved in the subse quent five months, it could be suggested he has caught the mood and taken some liberties with the narrative.

'I thought we were too far adrift when I walked through the door," he said before, on the last league weekend, his side recorded the home win over Sheffield United needed to guarantee a play-off place. After a 1-1 draw at home to Millwall in the first leg, Birm ingham went on to dispose of their opponents with an on loan from Sheffield United. There can be no disputing the effect he has had on the team.Ofthell likely to start against Norwich tomorrow four will be Bruce's men, four from the Francis era and three from Fry's. As well as the quartet of Jeff Kenna, Steve Vickers, Olivier Tebily and John he brought in, Bruce has signed three midfielders, Damien Johnson from Blackburn, Tom Williams from Peterborough and Paul Devlin noise from planes wasn the only drawback. "Low-flying Canadian geese that roosted nearby were also a problem.

Sometimes we could not use the pitches because they were covered in bird shit. Not that the pitches were the right size anyway. Now the only airborne distraction is the crane erecting an indoor playing area at the club's purpose-built training ground. "We need that for our youth academy," says Bruce. "It's a continuation of the improvements that have taken place since I kcame here and proof phere down there and because they'd lost at home everybody thought they were out.

That took a lot of character." Indeed local police have moved the kick-off time to 1.30pm in the hope of preventing the kind of trouble that marred the play-off in Cardiff. Brentford, though, finished third in the league and only a late equaliser by Reading's Jamie Cureton in the final game of the regular season denied automatic promotion. Their likeliest hero is Lloyd Owusu, whose devastating 25-yard strike killed off Hudders-field in the play-off semi-final. Kirton kicks political football for Brentford PBany.FryMMayJ mWb can them bac Cvuhofetlioybolonftril I Win or lose, unless that issue is revolved, the Bees' prospects look bleak, even though in the shorterterm they appear rosier for having use of the lucky North dressing room attheMil-lennium Stadium from where all 11 winners have emerged since footballls showcase events moved to Cardiff. Promotion to the First Division would at least give Brentford fans something to cheer, although Kirton admits he is wary of the opposition.

"What Stoke did to get to the final by beating Cardiff City away tells you all you need to know about them. It was a scary atmos Stave Bruce celebrates Blues' Injury-time winner at Millwall Mike HewittGetty Images that the club is moving along the right lines." His predecessor Francis had much to do with that but Brucels habit of giving praise for improvements to his directors has done much to end the public bickering between board and managers that was rife when Francis and Fry were in office. "The real strength of our lot is team-wark'Kirton said. "There are one or two individuals, like Owusuorlvarlngijnareson.but our success is mainly down to spirit and organisation." Owusu, Ingimarsson and the captain Paul Evans are all out of contract at the end of the season and, if they leave Griffin Park, Coppell could soon follow, weary of working on a frayed shoestring. However the owner Ron Noades has said he is willing to fund the loss-making club beyond the end of this month.

With a crisis looming, fans formed the ABeeC Party a few "I think the supporters needed exciting again and the players, many who had given good service and value, had grown old together," he says. "The squad needed freshening up. New players give impetus to the club on the pitch, in the room, among the supporters, the directors and for everybody concerned. Thankfully the new players have settled voted for him, he has never been passionate about politics. "Theonlyinterestmostofour supporters have in right-wing or left-wing is who's playing there for Brentford," he said.

"But a. football club is an asset that binds communities together. The serious business starts here. Well, actually it starts on Monday. We're going to beat Stoke first, have a party and then we'll get down to work." Adrian Goldbergs film about the ABeeC campaign will be releasedin the autumn.

TV: nv Sport, ko 1.30pm today Cardiff pollea alert: news, page 6 months ago. ABeeC backs Noades's plan for a new stadium, which will not be feasible unless the claustrophobic Griffin Park is sold for housing. "The council won't let Noades sell the ground until the club has a new site to move to, because that could leave us homeless," said Kirton. "But they haven't been able to find us an alternative site either, and the situation is just drifting. Now I'm on the council they won'tbeableto ignore us." Although Kirton describes himself as a "traditional Labour he said that, in common with most of the people who Adrian Goldberg When Brentford take the field against Stoke City in the Second Division play-off final in Cardiff today there will be no place in the starting line-up for Luke Kirton, but the 31- year-old despatch worker potentially wields a greater influence on their future than any of Steve Coppell's players.

Kirton was elected to Houn- slow council in west London last week as a member of the pro-Brentford ABeeC Party, and his manifesto commitment is to tackle the planning logjam blighting the club..