Source: Team_Talk
New Blues contract for Fahey
irmingham midfielder Keith Fahey has signed a one-year contract extension with the Premier League club.[LNB] The new deal will keep the 27-year-old Irishman at St Andrews until the summer of 2013.[LNB]Fahey joined Birmingham from League of Ireland side St Patrick's Athletic in January 2009 and has gone on to establish himself in Alex McLeish's first-team squad, scoring four times in 59 appearances.[LNB]"Keith has proved to me that he's a Premier League player," McLeish told the club's official website.[LNB]"Having had trials that didn't work out perhaps the way he would have wanted to at clubs when he was younger, he is a brilliant example to young players in that if at first you don't succeed you should try and try again. He got a second chance and he has grabbed it. His is an inspirational story."[LNB]Fahey's first foray into English football began with a unsuccessful spell as a trainee at Arsenal before an ill-fated switch to Aston Villa in 2000 that brought just one first-team outing. He subsequently returned to the Irish league before Birmingham offered him a second opportunity to make his mark in England.[LNB]"Keith is a brilliant lad who is well-liked and is a great professional," McLeish added. "All of those qualities make him a manager's dream but it shouldn't be forgotten that he's a very good footballer too."[LNB]Dublin-born Fahey's impressive form in the Premier League led to him being handed his first senior cap for the Republic of Ireland in a friendly win against Paraguay at the end of May.
