Muamba - and a glimpse at next season

Muamba joined us as one of the "Arsenal trio" for our last season in the Championship. His determined, unshirking style won the hearts of the supporters and he became a very popular player, winning the Young Player of the Year award at the end of the last promotion campaign.

He certainly seemed to enjoy playing for Blues and was never seen without a smile on his face. If what has already been written about him is to be believed, he is quite a remarkable young man who has survived considerable adversity and for that, he deserves to enjoy some success.

Now he has left, the debate will rage as to whether this was a wise sale or not and from the comments I have read on the messageboards already, fans seem quite equally divided about this. Will he be another AJ, one we will rue in future? Or did he have limitations that will limit his development as a professional?

His stamina and application seem not to be in doubt; he is one of those athletic youngsters who seem to be able to run limitlessly in pursuit of the cause and his ability to get the ball from the opposition is excellent. However, his distribution is nowhere near as solid and it could be argued that a player of his age (20) should already be a much better passer of the ball if he is truly going to be outstanding.

He's not a Fabregas and never will be; Arsene Wenger had clearly seen that when he agreed to sell him to us, so maybe he had already decided that Muamba did not have what it takes to succeed at the highest level.

However, Wenger's astute move was to insist on a sell-on clause, so in reality we are not going to make a huge profit from moving him on to Bolton. Alex McLeish has already stated that he is looking for a replacement and I guess that we will know more about his intentions when the next signing arrives at St Andrew's over the summer.

I don't expect Muamba to be the last of our players to be sold and I won't be surprised at all if Kapo leaves in the near future. For me, he is a player who is an expensive luxury at our level and we would be much better served by trying to hold on to Larsson and McFadden. At the same time though, I am a bit concerned that the current squad movements are giving them the wrong message about next season.

David Gold has already said (rashly or otherwise) that he expects Blues to be promoted as Champions. if we do not have a good enough team, that could become the proverbial albatross around his neck (Ancient Mariner, anyone?). We shall see....

The fixture list was published on Monday and that is a real leveller for any team that has been relegated.

You scan eagerly through the list, looking for the season's treats, to find Barnsley, Blackpool and Burnley; oh dear. We start with the Blades, finish with the Royals and there are an awful lot of games in between. This year, there is no fixture on New Year's Day and we are away to Ipswich on Boxing Day. That's not going to make for an entertaining festive season, sadly.

In the Championship, the fixture list is relentless and I can understand why McLeish is already saying that he needs a sizeable squad to get through it.

I will be watching the transfer news with interest.