Birmingham backs McLeish for Premier League return

Published May. 23, 2011 9:06 a.m. ET

foxsports

Birmingham has decided against firing Alex McLeish despite the club's relegation from the Premier League and says it expects its manager to engineer an immediate return to the topflight.

Birmingham was relegated Sunday following a 2-1 defeat in its final match at Tottenham and acting chairman Peter Pannu says fans ''have been let down.''

Pannu added that owner Carson Yeung had provided the club with 40 million pounds ($65 million) to help stave off demotion and that the ''board will take stock of what went wrong this season.''

Birmingham's third relegation in six seasons came after the team scored just 37 goals in 38 matches. No team won fewer matches away from home than the two managed by the Blues.