Birmingham City failed to strike gold with £2.7m Russian transfer swoop | OneFootball

Birmingham's £2.7m gamble in 2007 failed to keep them in the Premier League

Birmingham City’s 2007 deal to sign Garry O’Connor proved an expensive deal that simply wasn’t worth it, despite the promise of so much more.

It was reported that the Scot made the switch for £2.7 million, arriving from Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow, where he spent just one season.

The then 24-year-old had come through the ranks at Hibernian before making the surprising move to the Russian Premier League, where he made 33 appearances and scored seven times.

It was hoped that the forward could help the Blues to compete in the Premier League following their promotion from the Championship under Steve Bruce.

The Midlands outfit were back in the top flight immediately after suffering relegation in 2006, and were hoping to secure their long-term status in the division with some big spending.

Garry O’Connor’s disappointing Birmingham stint never really got going

However, it didn’t quite click for O’Connor, who struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League.

The striker made 23 appearances in the league that first season at St. Andrew’s, with only five of those coming as a starter.

While he managed a goal on his debut that August, scoring in a 2-2 draw with fellow promoted side Sunderland, he didn’t score again until January in a dramatic 1-1 draw against Arsenal.

O’Connor started twice more in the Premier League that season, with his only real impact on the campaign being the role he played in Arsenal’s title challenge falling apart.

The forward’s game time didn’t improve with Birmingham back in the Championship in the 2008/09 campaign, making 16 appearances in total, although he did manage six goals to his name.

With the club back in the Premier League in 2009/10, O’Connor remained a bit part player before ultimately being sold to Barnsley in 2010 after another 13 appearances in the top flight.

Fitness issues derailed Garry O’Connor’s Birmingham run - his career never picked up after Blues stint

Injuries and fitness issues meant that O’Connor never got off the ground at Birmingham after his initial goal on debut.

Manager Alex McLeish made it public in July 2008 that he had told the player to write off the end of his first season with the club months ahead of its conclusion due to illness.

However, he also challenged him to come out to start the 2008/09 campaign strongly, which he failed to live up to.

“He has come back to pre-season having had an excellent stint of one-to-one training when he was in Scotland over the summer,” said McLeish, via Birmingham Live.

“He’s looking very honed.

“He joined the club last year from the Russian league with a wee bit of puppy fat and handles.

“He was a little out of shape and that can take a while for people to put it right.

“We said to him [a few months after arriving] that he should write the season off and come back this season all guns blazing.”

But the forward never got on top of his issues, and struggled to ever hit the heights hoped for him, with Birmingham or anywhere else in his career.

His time at Barnsley was even less successful, but whilst he had a brief season of personal success with Hibernian in 2011-12, it would be short-lived, as the end of his career would see him return to Russia to play for Tom-Tomsk, before returning home to play for Greenock Morton.