This article is part of Football FanCast's Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers...
It’s a rather bold claim to make.
There’s being ambitious, there’s being realistic and there’s being ridiculous. Where you want to put a quote like this is entirely up to you, but given how the Blues have started this season, it’s more than likely going to end up in the latter category.
What’s he said?
Speaking in an interview with The Times, Birmingham City’s summer signing Dan Crowley came out and said that the Blues need to be aiming for promotion this season:
“I think we can get promoted. We’re the underdogs as well — no one thinks we’ll go up. No one else is going to believe it if you don’t, are they?”
Biting off more than he can chew?
We’ve covered on FFC before about how a number of the club’s international players have got ambitions to play in the Premier League at some stage, and that the club need to put themselves in a position to get there eventually or risk losing them.
However, now it looks as if Crowley has upped the ante somewhat by coming and claiming that they can do it this season.
Whilst Birmingham might find themselves behind the eight-ball right now in terms of the size of the clubs in comparison to the likes of Leeds, Fulham, West Bromwich and Swansea, the latter three have recently been in the Premier League and have the finances to back them up, it does at least give them something to aim for.
The Blues might not be in a decent position to challenge this season, given their inconsistent start to the campaign they can at least show they’ve got the ambition and the ability to take a step forward and then make a challenge in 2020/21.
But that’s not what Crowley believes in, so if he really thinks that they can get promoted this campaign, then he’s going to have to turn himself into a bit of a driving force and be the catalyst for that promotion push.
He’s signed a cheque, now he and his teammates have to go and cash it.