Gianfranco Zola was a little boy lost at Birmingham City
Steward gives not so thorough searches at Tottenh
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Gianfranco Zola looked like a little boy lost at the press conference to announce his arrival as Gary Rowett's successor.
It was a persona that was maintained through to the bitter end at Birmingham City.
For all the platitudes of 'nice bloke' and 'brilliant player' that were trotted out as some justification for his pedigree as a football manager, the sorry truth was spelled out in horrible fashion at St Andrew's.
He has been proved to be embarrassingly out of his depth.
(Photo: PA Wire)
I sat in the paddock of the old Main Stand watching as sorry a performance as I'd seen – and there have been a few contenders for that description over the years - against a Burton Albion side that was tough, organised and willing to put their bodies on the line for three vital points.
Birmingham City were nothing of the sort.
They appeared to have been thrown together on the morning of the match – asked to go and play with one another – by a manager whose credibility has been shot to pieces. Like a barrel, choc-ful of apples, massacred by a machine-gun.
(Photo: Getty Images Europe)
There was pure frustration after the final whistle from supporters who have watched a promising season collapse around them. They weren't consulted on Rowett's exit. They weren't asked about his replacement, either.
They've been asked to pay up, shut up and accept what they were being told for their own good. No wonder they were almost beyond angry. Even with my hands over my daughter's ears, it was difficult for her to escape the vitriol.
Difficult to escape. But easy to understand. The punters have watched with growing frustration as result after result has inched them closer to the drop.
Oh, they tried to offer their support amid the confusion that followed Rowett's departure. They are a fair bunch at St Andrew's. But that backing steadily turned to despair.
Often, statistics lie. But Zola can have no complaints.
(Photo: Harry Trump)
Birmingham City were seventh, lying outside the play-offs on goal difference when he arrived.
After two wins in 24 outings – yes the two FA Cup ties against Newcastle United's reserves should be included – they now lie three points above the drop-zone.
Given the three fixtures that remain – against cross-city rivals Aston Villa next Sunday, at home to promotion-chasing Huddersfield Town and a final day test at Ashton Gate, another D-Day – such as the one famously experienced at Bolton Wanderers three years ago - is now frighteningly on the cards.
Honestly, the natives tried to offer their backing. But restlessness turned into outright warfare at Rotherham United on Good Friday. The punters were brawling in the stands. The players, Lukas Jutkiewicz and Emilio Nsue having to be separated during the warm-down.
Zola did have a chance to succeed. He arrived within hours of the club announcing Rowett had been sacked. Unlike many, he'd had time to sift through the resources at his disposal.
He was given funds. The club confirmed to me plenty of times that the manager had given his personal seal of approval to the transfers that were carried out.
The core of individuals assembled by Rowett were lost. Club skipper Michael Morrison picked up an injury as did striker Clayton Donaldson.
But others, such as David Cotterill and Jacques Maghoma, were discarded. The players started playing expansive football. It didn't work. It rarely does in the Championship. And not with these players. Simply, they weren't good enough.
That fact damns Zola. Another coach may have seen it sooner and altered this season's outcome.
As it is, the slide down the table was accelerated and a back-four was ditched for a back-five. Four-three-three? Three-five-one-one? You name it, the Italian tried it.
(Photo: Getty)
A mish-mash of signings – old boy Craig Gardner has few real pluses as a player – his goal-scoring ability is one. But he doesn't possess quick feet. It seemed an odd purchase if Birmingham were trying to recreate Brazil's team of 1970 midway through a Championship campaign to bring him back from West Bromwich Albion.
In the end the players were confused. It doesn't excuse them. But makes the position a touch easier to understand.
The club started the season being, industrious, gritty and difficult to beat. About as pretty on the eye as a pig in lipstick. But two 10th-placed finishes showed they were competitive.
But in December that went out of the window. Why? That was never fully explained, either.
(Photo: Nathan Stirk)
(Photo: Handout)
However, what of those decision-makers above?
The faceless bunch in Hong Kong, new owners Trillion Trophy Asia, have never explained their aims or revealed themselves to supporters still sore at the fall-out from the regime of convicted money-launderer Carson Yeung.
De-facto chief executive Panos Pavlakis personally sourced Zola. It is mightily convenient for the Chinese owners that the Italian fell on his sword tonight. He must have been given one almighty push.
Because to sack Zola would have been to admit that Pavlakis's gamble failed. That the Greek banker got it wrong.
There are those at Birmingham City who, behind-the-scenes, have been tearing out their hair in frustration. There are others, such as Pavlakis and recruitment head Ewan Chester – very happy to take credit as the power-behind-the-throne – who have been desperate for this strategy to work.
(Photo: PA Wire.)
Perhaps that's the reason why Zola has been given so long. The club could have terminated his employment at any stage in the last month and justified it.
However, this experiment has failed. And it's failed badly.
It now remains for a group of players whose confidence has been blasted to bits to gather themselves together, to rouse themselves and find the points to keep themselves in the division, staring next weekend at Villa Park where a sell-out crowd will be desperate to hammer a claret and blue nail in their coffin.
In the final analysis, Zola can take a huge proportion of the blame for this sorry slump. He was backed from day one. And didn't deliver.
But those who took the decision to sack Rowett too are reaping the whirlwind. And it's one that might yet see the house of cards at St Andrew's come crashing down around their ears.