David Gold - Football
Blues Magazine, November 2005, Part Three
So do you still see yourself at Blues in five years' time?
I would hope so, but you never know. I'm really happy here and I've got no plans to leave but I suppose it will depend on the message boards and the support of the fans. Once you start hearing the crowd singing 'chairman out, chairman out' or the message boards and letters to local papers demanding your resignation, then you obviously look at things differently. I have to say in my eight years or so as chairman, the fans have been extremely supportive. It's not often but when I'm a bit down and I'm thinking, 'Do I really need this?' it's the fans that always rally me.
Nothing's forever, the greatest manager in the Premier League, Sir Alex Ferguson, will one day retire, so nothing goes on forever, and I only want to be where I am wanted, but I hope to be here for a few years yet. I have to say I have enormous enthusiasm and energy. I'm driven by the challenge. Driven whether it be in my businesses, or the football club, I'm driven by the will to win. I want my businesses to be successful. I want Birmingham City Football Club to be successful. I want them to win trophies. I want them to achieve, I want them to climb the league and I'm driven by all that.
I would also urge any chairman that feels he is under pressure - as I urged my friend David Sullivan when he was receiving bad press - to remember that quite often it's only a small minority of fans. If you stand outside the gates of St. Andrew's with a clipboard, within half an hour you would have a better idea of what fans think and it would be a true representation, as opposed to the views of a vociferous minority.
I believe that there are managers and chairmen over the years who have quit when in actual fact the majority have wanted them to stay. But they have been so worn down by the ferocity of the minority.
There was talk about bringing Michael Owen in on loan earlier this year. How serious was that?
It was a genuine inquiry. If you don't ask, you don't get. We thought there was an opportunity of pulling off a surprise and we might just have done it. Were the odds any better than 20 to 1? I doubt it. But 20 to 1 horses do come in.
Are you concerned that Newcastle might come back in for Steve Bruce if Newcastle continue to struggle?
I'm always concerned that a football club - or England - might come after Steve Bruce. Not only has he done a fantastic job for us on the pitch, but there are also a number of other important things which you need, particularly for the England job: how articulate you are, how fan friendly, your passion, is he comfortable with the media? For a manager to carry the fans, particularly England fans, they want to see passion, a will to win. He's got to be comfortable with the media, the media have got to be comfortable with him.
I believe very strongly that the next England manager should be English
He has to have a relationship with the fans and the ability to work with and have the respect of the players and Steve has all these attributes. You want to take the nation with you, they want to see you will die for the cause, they want to see you on the back pages of the newspapers, not on the front.
And I believe very strongly that the next England manager should be English. I felt it was important three years ago when I got lambasted on Radio Five for saying that the then FA Chief Executive, Adam Crozier, was wrong to employ a foreign manager. Personally I want to see an Englishman as the manager of the national team.
Even if that meant us losing Steve Bruce?
Yes, because we will only lose Steve Bruce if he is hugely successful. I would take two years of huge success that brings about Steve becoming the England manager. One, I'd be thrilled for him because I believe he is a natural born winner, and two, I think he would make a fantastic England
