Source: Team_Talk
Coyle tips Blues for more success
olton boss Owen Coyle does not believe Birmingham are in any daner of suffering second-season syndrome with Alex McLeish at the helm.[LNB] McLeish led the Blues to an impressive ninth-place finish in the Premier League last term just 12 months after they were promoted to the top flight as Championship runners-up.[LNB]Several teams in recent years have enjoyed initial success after coming up from the second tier only to struggle in the campaign that followed, but Coyle - whose side host Birmingham on Sunday - believes the Midlands outfit will build this season.[LNB]"Alex is a top-class manager and he's been able to improve the squad from last year with signings," Coyle said.[LNB]"Joe Hart went back, but he has got a terrific replacement in Ben Foster and Nikola Zigic has come in - they have brought some very good players to the football club, and spent some money doing it.[LNB]"I have got no doubts that Birmingham under Alex will carry on the good work from last season.[LNB]"I think particularly under Alex's stewardship, they will go from strength to strength.[LNB]"They are a big club and he is doing the right things to take them on."[LNB]Both Bolton and Birmingham have made encouraging starts to the 2010-11 campaign, with four points apiece from their opening two games.[LNB]Wanderers have been tipped in some quarters for a top 10 finish themselves, but Coyle has stressed that it is still very early in a long season.[LNB]"Everybody wants points on the board and four points from two games has been a pleasing start, but that is all it is," Coyle said.[LNB]"We have to concentrate for the Birmingham game, and try and do our utmost to win against a very good team and a terrific manager.[LNB]"He is a good friend of mine, but Alex knows and I know that during the game, we will be going all out to win the match for our respective clubs. We have to continue the hard work we have already done."[LNB]Asked if he felt Bolton could potentially target what Birmingham achieved last term, Coyle said: "Birmingham had a terrific season and enormous credit must be paid to them for that.[LNB]"There are clubs we would probably bracket as being in our area, and it shows that it can be achievable, to try and push yourself into that top 10.[LNB]"But that doesn't take two or three games - that takes a whole campaign, 38 games, and come the end of that, we'll see where we are."[LNB]Coyle and McLeish worked together in Scotland and the Bolton manager hopes there will be time for a catch-up once the match at the Reebok Stadium has finished.[LNB]"He was my manager - he signed me from Dundee United and I played under him at Motherwell," Coyle said.[LNB]"I loved every minute of it and have a terrific rapport with him. He has helped me along the way, there is no doubt about that, and hopefully I helped him when I was a player for him.[LNB]"I am very respectful of the job he has done everywhere he has been - he has been different class.[LNB]"I'm pretty sure after the game we'll sit down and have a chat, but during it, we'll be going all out to win."
