Birmingham City foreign legion told to learn from British players

Oct 2 2010 by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail

ALEX McLeish has told his new foreign contingent to get with the programme and become Brits!

Blues are among the few Premier League clubs who use a decidedly British and Irish foundation to their side.

In their last match, only Aleksandr Hleb, of Belarus, and Swede Sebastian Larsson of the starting XI were from further afield.

There is a good character of player in there, said McLeish. It is very much a British identity.

Seb probably comes under the banner of being almost English now and the lads have that British never-say-die bulldog spirit.

We would like to think we have shown a bit of quality as well, and thats what we have been trying to improve.

It is up to the British lads in the dressing room to welcome the foreign lads and get them into the same kind of mindset.

That is another facet of Blues strength, the strong will behind the closed doors.

Often, the players will tell it like it is, to one another. We dont want to see players criticising each other or saying things in a nasty way, said McLeish. There are ways to say it and players can get their points put across.

I think if Stevie Carr says something at half-time then the guys take it in.

The collective spirit is there and there are three or four who can voice their opinions and be respected in the dressing room. We dont want for it to be just about shouting and clenching your fists, weve got to play with a bit of intelligence.