Lee Bowyer compares Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish to the late Sir Bobby Robson

May 17 2010 by Andy Walker, Sunday Mercury

“But I think his attitude in sessions and giving us days off – probably more than other teams are having – so we can recharge our batteries has helped.

“Because we are workers. We’ve gone on to the 94th minute in every single game.

“Wheneve there’s added time and we’re hanging on, running around, closing down, and as midfielders we’re non-stop workers.

“I think we worked harder than other teams last season because we’re doing all that right to the last minutes.

“Because we keep doing that, and because throughout the season we didn’t change the team much, it does catch up with you.

“So that’s what I mean about his man-management being very good.

“He lets us have our input at half-time, but not in a bad way. Us experienced ones just put over our experience and our knowledge. If it can help an individual and a team, then I think that is a good thing.”

Despite finishing the season with just one win in their last ten games, Blues did get used to that winning feeling at one point.

For Bowyer, a player who has had something of a rollercoaster career, it was a truly memorable campaign.

“I just don’t like losing – and there’s a lot of players in the squad who don’t like losing,” added the 33-year-old Londoner.

“So when you are going unbeaten, unbeaten, unbeaten, you are looking forward to the next game all the time.

“Obviously teams down the wrong end are losing, losing, losing and thinking, ‘oh God, who have we got this weekend?’.

“But we started thinking the other way. Arsenal, Liverpool; I’m speaking to my friends and I’m saying to them that I fancy a draw. One of my friends who is a Liverpool fan was going ‘you’ve got no chance’, but I was going to him ‘I’m telling you, I fancy us to nick it’.

“Teams didn’t like coming to our place, we work hard, we put them under pressure, the pitch isn’t good, it was down to a combination of things.

“With our crowd behind us too it’s not a nice place to come. “Overall the last season has been amazing really.”