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      Neil Warnock, 74, planning Old Fashioned bid to beat relegation with Huddersfield after revelation on New York holiday

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      NEIL WARNOCK was sipping his aptly named favourite cocktail — an Old Fashioned — in Downtown Manhattan this week.If there was a stiff drink befitting one of football’s great characters it would be that one.
      Neil Warnock was drinking cocktails in New York before flying back to the UK to take the Huddersfield job
      Warnock has made a shock return to management with the TerriersCredit: Getty
      Dating back to a bygone age, it is one of the most basic concoctions — bourbon, bitters, sugar and water on the rocks garnished with an orange slice or zest with a cocktail cherry in a proper heavy short glass.
      With Warnock, who dates back to 1948, you get a fiery little number that is a fusion of straight-talking, no-nonsense passion garnished with a hilarious sense of fun that keeps captivating players, fans and media alike.
      Warnock, aged 74 and 79 days today, will become the second-oldest manager in professional English football history behind Roy Hodgson when he takes charge of struggling Huddersfield against Birmingham — after flying back from a short romantic Valentine’s break to answer the club’s SOS call.
      And he told SunSport: “Sharon and I were drinking cocktails in some great little jazz clubs in New York but four nights in such a hectic city is enough when you get to our age.
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      “While I was drinking an Old Fashioned listening to great pianists, singers and saxophonists, I was feeling, well, a little old-fashioned!
      “But, mind you, the next ten weeks are going to be far more hectic than being in New York!”
      The Yorkshireman, who claimed he had retired in April, has won an English record of eight promotions in a 43-year career that has spanned 16 different clubs.
      But now he must navigate 15 fixtures — eight against top-ten clubs — to save the second-bottom Terriers from crashing into League One just a year after they were a play-off final away from making a return to the Premier League.
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      Managers Danny Schofield, 42, and 39-year-old Mark Fotherington have been and gone this season and Huddersfield have not won for eight matches.
      Warnock added: “I’m not a miracle worker and don’t walk on water but am not a bad manager and will give it my best shot.
      “They’ve had two young guys in charge and wanted someone with experience to organise the team until the end of the season, making them harder to beat, because they’ve been a bit of a mess.
      “After Birmingham, it’s Burnley away and we’ve got all the top teams to face — but that’s what I love because we can ruffle a few feathers, can’t we?
      “The top teams will be under as much pressure as we are. Rather than having that trepidation you get when you’re younger and worrying too much, I’m not going to panic.
      “I told the players, ‘You’re lucky I’ve come out of retirement. I’m going to enjoy these 15 games and want you to as well.’ We’re going to give it a real go.”
      Warnock has taken the job “on a Yorkshireman’s handshake” with owner Dean Hoyle until the end of the season.
      He is already a hero in this market town in the foothills of the Pennines after getting the team promoted to what is now known as the Championship in 1995 via the play-offs.
      The Terriers boss said: “The fans will be pleased. I got a great reception when I came up here before Christmas. I want to put smiles on their faces.”
      While Warnock jokes he is a dinosaur, he has embraced the world of social media, setting up his own Twitter account with some of his posts going viral.
      When Lionel Messi was captured sleeping with his arm around the World Cup, Warnock tweeted the image alongside one of him snoozing with the Championship trophy he won with QPR in 2011. With the caption “Deja Duvet”, the post had FOUR MILLION hits.
      And earlier this week, he posted a photo of himself next to a model of a T-Rex skeleton with the caption: “From one dinosaur to another, not extinct yet.”
      He admitted: “I’d never thought about Twitter before I retired because I can’t even turn a computer on.
      “Someone puts the posts up for me but I’m always thinking of ideas what to put on there. One of the first things I posted was on my bicycle in Scotland. There was a heatwave so I simply told people to drink plenty of water and not get dehydrated. It got 2.5m hits in less than ten hours. I was thinking, ‘How sad is this?’
      “I looked a right idiot. But, like the dinosaur tweet the other day, I like to make people smile and laugh. You must laugh at yourself sometimes.”
      Not so laughable is the amount of recent controversy over  refereeing decisions and Warnock probably holds the record for paying out the most fines for his bust-ups with officials.
      And while he admits he is unlikely to change his ways, he believes now that fellow Yorkshireman Howard Webb is in charge of refereeing in English football, the quality will improve.
      He said: “I’ve looked at some of the mistakes over the past few weeks in VAR and it’s the same old names that cropped up when I was managing before.
      “They’ve gone in the right direction with Howard, he’s a proper referees’ man. He uses the law of the game that no one bothers with — the common-sense one. We can’t carry on like we have.
      “I wanted VAR because I got relegated at Cardiff because of a goal that was two yards offside. But I never envisaged the problems it’s causing. They’re still getting decisions wrong and the way it’s done is taking the joy out of goal celebrations. It’s taking too long.
      “We need to put a time limit on it. I’d say 30 seconds — if they can’t make their mind up in that time you must go with the referee’s decision. Sometimes it takes three or four minutes — that’s ridiculous.
      “I wasn’t a fan of the last guy in charge, Mike Riley, because when he refereed he was a robot.
      “And that’s how all his referees have turned out to be.”
      But if Warnock keeps Huddersfield up, he will celebrate by downing a few more of his Old Fashioned cocktails.
      And he insisted: “I’m then going to retire again.”
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      Yeah, right… or wait for another job to pop up next February?
      He laughed: “At my age, working ten weeks a year is just perfect.” More

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      ‘Kid called me a ‘f***ing Chinese p***k’ – Neil Etheridge joins Troy Deeney in revealing impact of shocking racist abuse

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      IN the space of 17 days, Birmingham team-mates Troy Deeney and Neil Etheridge have been victims of racial abuse from fans at English football grounds.And, yes, you can check the dateline at the top of this story, the year is 2023.
      The recent experiences of Neil Etheridge and Troy Deeney show how much work still has to be done to curb racism in footballCredit: Roland Leon Sun Commissioned
      Birmingham team-mates Etheridge and Deeney are speaking outCredit: Roland Leon Sun Commissioned
      Britain has been a multicultural  society for decades and its national sport has been surrounded by anti-racism campaigns, slogans and gestures for several years, too.
      Yet here we are, discussing the serious impact on two experienced, “thick-skinned” pro footballers who  suffered vile racial slurs from the terraces.
      In this interview, Birmingham captain Deeney and keeper Etheridge describe feelings of degradation,  worthlessness, numbness — even shame — after they were victims of sickening slurs on the basis of their ethnic origin.
      A high-profile black man, Deeney suffers dozens of instances of racism every week — mostly online, but  occasionally in person.
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      And, most recently, from a supporter of his own club after Tuesday’s 2-0 home defeat by Cardiff.
      Etheridge is half-Asian — his father is white British, his mother Filipino.
      Other than one incident at school in an “affluent, white area that wasn’t multicultural”, he had never suffered racial abuse until the dying moments of a 2-2 FA Cup draw at Blackburn Rovers on January 28.
      When I asked Deeney whether he wanted to write about Tuesday’s incident at St Andrew’s in his weekly SunSport column, he suggested that Etheridge joined our conversation.
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      It felt like I’d been stabbed with a hot knife in an area of my body I didn’t even know I had. You feel numb, degraded, worthless.Neil Etheridge
      Deeney suggested some people might be tired of hearing him “banging on about racism again”. It’s sad he fears such attitudes, but perhaps he is right.
      He felt Etheridge might offer a different perspective. To prove racism wasn’t exclusively a “black issue” and also to hear how it felt to be racially abused from the terraces for the first time.
      Recalling the incident, Etheridge says: “We scored a last-minute equaliser  at Ewood Park, I’d celebrated by the  halfway line and, as I walked back towards the goal, I  heard the normal sort of abuse you get used to.
      “Then, all of a sudden, there was a person standing out in the crowd and it got very nasty. He was saying, ‘You f***ing Chinese p***k’.
      “He then pulled his face back to  give the impression he had ‘Chinese’ eyes, as people might say. I was really taken aback.
      “It felt like I’d been stabbed with a hot knife in an area of my body I didn’t even know I had.
      “You feel completely numb, completely degraded and worthless, which is a really weird sensation. It cuts you deep.
      “Mentally, it’s affecting you. Then you start questioning yourself.
      “When the police spoke to me, I’m thinking, ‘Has this really happened?’ Although the CCTV footage made it pretty damned clear it had.
      “I reported it to the referee, he  dealt with it well and the FA got involved. The police found the culprit.
      “The culprit has admitted the offence. It was a 15-year-old.
      “The kid said he didn’t believe it was racist — that is what we are  dealing with, a complete lack of education and understanding. That’s why we both wanted to speak . . . ”
      Striker Deeney reported abuse as Birmingham lost 2-0 at home to Cardiff in the Championship on TuesdayCredit: Rex
      Deeney intervenes: “You’re not going to offend me, mate, we have discussed this . . . the idea of a ‘black agenda’, as if racism is solely a black issue.”
      “That’s what I mean,” says Etheridge. “There are fewer Asian people in English football — as a half-Asian player, it’s not being talked about,  then people can say “it [anti-Asian discrimination] isn’t racist, is it?”
      As for Tuesday’s incident, Deeney explains: “I’d come on 15 minutes  from time, at 0-0, and Cardiff scored two late goals.
      “At the final whistle, we go around the pitch and clap — win, lose or draw.
      “Then we came to the tunnel, it’s the kids and disabled area, and you  often hear, ‘Troy, can I have your shirt?’
      “In this instance, I’m hearing  swearing and abuse aimed at everyone. Then I spot this guy on the concourse.
      “He is leaning over, we’ve made eye contact, and it is, ‘You black c***, you f***ing n*****’. I asked, ‘What did you say?’ and he repeated it. I’m like, ‘Wow, you really don’t give a f*** do you?’”
      I ask Deeney how this made him feel. I apologise if the question sounds trite but, as a white man with no experience of suffering racism, I want him to differentiate between this experience and that of an angry fan shouting abuse without racial connotations.
      Deeney says: “You know what? My first thought on Tuesday was to question myself, almost as if I’m trying to justify what he’s said. I’m asking, ‘I wasn’t that bad was I?’
      “Then the rage comes. And after that, I can only describe it as shame. You feel embarrassed. You feel ‘less than’.
      “You end up looking at yourself, thinking, ‘Am I what I thought I was?’
      Deeney and Etheridge revealed the distress caused by racismCredit: Roland Leon Sun Commissioned
      “You have to be a bit arrogant to  be a professional footballer. But I’m  asking, ‘Am I actually good at football or just what this bloke says I am?’
      “You build a tolerance to being called a c*** or fat or s**t or rubbish.
      “I’ve been called every single word about my footballing ability, I’m used to it and I will wear it. But if you have to go racial and cultural, I’ll never understand that. I am a big-headed, fat c***, I don’t care, but when it was racial . . . ”
      Etheridge intervenes: “I discussed  it with my old man and he said  ‘uneducated people’.
      “But those guys at Chelsea who abused Raheem Sterling a few years ago, who can afford to buy tickets for Chelsea v Man City, I’m guessing, but they might not be that uneducated.
      “I didn’t fully understand until  it happened to me. Until you have been through it, you can’t. I want to make sure it doesn’t happen to the next generation of players.
      “I’m 33, if that happened to a 21-year-old, they might not be able to control themselves to go to the ref . . . it’s not an easy process.
      “I can only imagine what those lads went through being abused after the Euros final — Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho — it’s a  complete mindf***.”
      I’ve been called every single word about my footballing ability, I’m used to it and I will wear it. But if you have to go racial and cultural, I’ll never understand that.Troy Deeney
      Deeney says: “Neil has been around racism but until it  specifically hits you, you really can’t  comprehend that shameful feeling.
      “It’s not that we are ashamed to  be black or Asian, of our heritage,  it’s the way people can make you  feel ‘less than’. No one has any control over what colour they are.”
      Etheridge agrees: “As senior players we have thick skins, we’ve played at the highest level in front of big crowds.
      “You gain a certain tolerance to abuse but when you are being abused racially, you just can’t imagine how degrading it is for one human being to say those things to another.”
      Deeney believes racial abuse is  part of a wider feeling of “entitlement” among football supporters.
      He says: “We’ve created a herd  mentality. As soon as you go through the turnstiles there are no rules, no respect, a feeling of entitlement, ‘I pay my money and  can do what I want’.
      “You’re a Chinese p***k, you’re a black c***, in the street or at work people are aware they can’t say this stuff.”
      Etheridge says: “It’s like the other night at Arsenal with Kevin De Bruyne, the same herd mentality.  People chucking missiles.”
      “Yes, I was at the Arsenal-City game,” says Deeney, “Nowhere else in life would you see someone launch a bottle and get 15 more people saying, ‘That’s a good idea, I’ll lob a bottle, too’.
      Kevin de Bruyne had bottles thrown at him by Arsenal fans, but hit back by winking at the perpetrators as Man City won 3-1
      “But if Kevin launches one back, he’s in the wrong. If Neil goes into the crowd and grabs the kid at Blackburn, the FA would be on him like a ton of bricks.”
      On the evening of the Blackburn game, Etheridge was scrolling through Twitter.
      He says: “A woman who’d been at the game had written, ‘This is what  he thinks of that crybaby Birmingham goalkeeper’.  And then there is a  video of, presumably, her son, no  older than ten.
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      “He’s shouting, ‘You s**t b*****d’. And yeah, OK, that’s football. But she is now using it as a trophy that her  ten-year-old son is saying that, on  the back of me being a ‘crybaby’ for reporting racial abuse.
      “So when we talk about education, well education is clearly not coming from that kid’s home . . . ” More

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      James McClean bizarrely urges football chiefs to allow players to FIGHT and introduce sin bins to REDUCE ‘handbags’

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      WIGAN’S James McClean has come up with a left-field suggestion that footballers should be ALLOWED to fight on the pitch to improve the game.The winger thinks football should take a page out of ice hockey’s book where the referee allows players to briefly fight before being sent to the sin bin for five minutes.
      James McClean having a scrap with an opposition playerCredit: Rex
      McClean in action for Wigan against BlackburnCredit: Rex
      The controversial winger took to his Instagram page with the suggestion.
      He said: “Just an observation. If football introduced the rule like in ice hockey where if there is an on field issue then let two players involved have a 10/15 second tear up and then sin bin them, I guarantee there’d be far less handbags.”
      McClean’s out the box suggestion goes against with the current rules of football which sees players sent off and handed suspensions for acts of violent conduct.
      The former Stoke man has increasingly known for speaking his mind on polarising matters.
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      The Republic of Ireland international has refused to wear a poppy which marks Remembrance day and took time last year to open up about the abuse he received for his stance.
      In September during a minutes silence following the passing of the Queen he stood away from his team-mates.
      Wigan will be hoping that McClean doesn’t become involved in any scraps as they bid to beat the drop in the Championship.
      McClean has made 31 appearances for Wigan this season scoring two goals and providing six assists.
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      The Latics currently sit 22nd in the table two points off the bottom. More

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      Sheff Utd boss Paul Heckingbottom sent off for smashing subs board in anger during 3-1 loss at home to Middlesbrough

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      SEETHING Sheffield United manager Paul Heckingbottom was sent off for furiously smashing the substitutions board. The Blades boss, 45, saw his side stuffed 3-1 at home to promotion rivals Middlesbrough.
      Paul Heckingbottom was sent off by Andre Marriner as the Sheffield United boss lost his coolCredit: Alamy
      The Blades manager kicked the substitutes board as he let his frustration outCredit: Getty
      Paul Heckingbottom sent off for this last night 😂The 4th official were wi’ t’subs board and then suddenly he were wi’out t’subs board… pic.twitter.com/ZEEucqxJ1j— Tommo (@LUFC1992_v2) February 16, 2023

      Oli McBurnie gave the home side a fifth-minute lead but Chuba Akpom equalised before a Cameron Archer double in the second half to seal all three points for Michale Carrick’s men.
      And it was Archer’s second and Boro’s third that sent Heckingbottom into an angry spin, believing James McAtee was fouled in the build-up.
      The manager booted the fourth official’s board in the dugout and then sarcastically clapped referee Andre Marriner as he was shown the red card.
      Heckingbottom admitted he deserved to be given his marching orders but said: “Marriner waves an advantage and four seconds or whatever later, they have scored.
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      “If Macca had gone down, then that doesn’t happen and their lad gets booked. You see it time and time again.
      “It’s nothing to do with this game, my frustration has been building over the season.
      “We are an honest team but in our conversations about McAtee and Sander Berge getting fouled, we get double punishments because we don’t get bookings and we’re not losing free-kicks.
      “I’m having conversations with my assistants about whether we should go down. I shouldn’t react that way but it’s not that game.
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      “We’re getting punished, I think, for our honesty. As football, we’re rewarding people for going down.
      “I hate the way the game is going. I don’t like it. But that’s the situation.”
      Sheffield United lost in the play-offs to Nottingham Forest but are well on course to get back into the Premier League this time around.
      Despite their first defeat since November – ending a 13-match unbeaten run in all competitions – the Bramall Lane outfit are still second in the Championship and seven points clear of third-placed Middlesbrough with a game in hand. More

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      Fuming Blackpool fans ‘never want to see Arsenal loanee Charlie Patino in shirt again’

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      BLACKPOOL fans are raging at Arsenal loanee Charlie Patino after their 2-1 loss at Swansea.Patino, 19, was sent off during Wednesday’s crucial Championship clash in Wales in what was the Seasiders’ NINTH red card of the season.
      Charlie Patino was sent off during Blackpool’s loss to SwanseaCredit: Alamy
      Some Blackpool fans want Arsenal loanee Charlie Patino to leaveCredit: Getty
      The midfielder was initially booked on 39 minutes and then received his second yellow card only 12 minutes into the second half.
      Blackpool fans are infuriated with the talented teenager and some have called for him to be sent back to Arsenal.
      Enraged supporters took to social media and some demanded manager Mick McCarthy offloads the England Under-20.
      One fan tweeted: “I don’t want to ever see Patino in a Blackpool shirt again.”
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      Another posted: “Charlie Patino, already on a yellow, with a horror tackle to be dismissed. Stupid challenge.”
      A third commented: “Get rid of him he is absolutely embarrassing.”
      This fan wrote: “Shouldn’t even be playing, too inexperienced and too weak!!”
      And that one tweeted: “Send him back to Arsenal the lad can’t take.”
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      Blackpool are bottom of the Championship table after the loss to Swansea.
      The Tangerines suffered their 15th defeat in 31 matches in the second division.
      McCarthy’s men are facing relegation to League One as they are four points away from safety. More

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      Man Utd stars drive into training in style in plush cars before jetting to Barcelona for Europa clash

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      MANCHESTER UNITED arrived at training in style ahead of their trip to Barcelona.The Red Devils take on the La Liga leaders in the first leg of their Europa League tie on Thursday.
      Marcus Rashford showed up in his £280,000 McLarenCredit: Zenpix
      Harry Maguire prepares for training after playing at the weekendCredit: Zenpix
      Lisandro Martinez was accompanied by a friend on his way into trainingCredit: Zenpix
      Brandom Williams arrived in a flash carCredit: Zenpix
      Fred could play a big role against BarcelonaCredit: Zenpix
      United stars arrived at Carrington to train ahead of their trip to the Nou Camp.
      Marcus Rashford turned up in a fancy McLaren with a personalised ‘R10 LTM’ number plate.
      The luxurious McLaren 765 Long Tail is worth an estimated £280,000.
      The car has a top speed of 205mph, hitting 60mph in just 2.1 seconds.
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      Rashford’s team-mates Fred and Brandon Wiliams were also spotted driving into the training complex.
      While Bruno Fernandes also looked stylish arriving in his Mercedes-Benz GLC-Coupe.
      World Cup winner Lisandro Martinez turned up in a flashy black Audi with Harry Maguire in a Range Rover.
      The United squad will be hopeful of picking up a result to take back to Manchester and have been boosted by the news Ousmane Dembele is unavailable for the clash.
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      The Barcelona winger has impressed this season but is absent with a thigh injury he picked up at the end of last month.
      In-form Rashford could be key for the Red Devils following a return of 13 goals in his last 15 games.
      But Xavi reportedly has a plan to stop him – by making central defender Ronald Auraujo man-mark him out of the game. More

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      Troy Deeney reports hearing racist abuse from fans in home end at Birmingham City as club release statement

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      TROY DEENEY has reported hearing racist abuse from fans sat in the home end at Birmingham City’s St Andrews’ Stadium.The abuse is alleged to have taken place after yesterday’s 2-0 defeat to Cardiff City.
      Troy Deeney reported alleged racist abuse after last night’s matchCredit: PA
      In addition to Deeney, a number of home supporters have also reported hearing racist abuse directed at the striker.
      It is said to have come from the Gil Merrick lower section of the stadium.
      A Bimingham club statement read: “This incident has been referred to the relevant authorities and the Club will assist in their investigation.
      “Blues gives its full support to Troy and is appalled and saddened that yet again, one of our players is not safe from discrimination on the football pitch.
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      “There is no room for racism in the game.
      “No further comment will be made at this time.”
      Sun columnist Deeney, 34, is a boyhood Birmingham fan and has often skippered the club this season.
      He signed for the club in 2021 after 11 years at Watford.
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      The forward is a club legend at Vicarage Road, having made 419 appearances for the Hornets.
      He has subsequently played 53 times for Blues.
      Deeney’s team-mate Neil Etheridge was allegedly racially abused during last month’s FA Cup tie against Blackburn Rovers.
      Etheridge, 32, reported the abuse to referee Keith Stroud, who momentarily stopped the game.
      Police are investigating the incident.
      Neil Etheridge reported alleged racist abuse during last month’s clash with BlackburnCredit: Getty More

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      Jobe Bellingham, 17, has significant advantage over England star brother Jude even though his career has stalled

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      JUDE BELLINGHAM returns to football’s fast lane on Wednesday when the Three Lions’ teenage World Cup sensation locks horns with Chelsea in the Champions’ League.It’s the high-octane environment the 19-year-old Borussia Dortmund midfielder was always destined for.
      Birmingham are confident they have another star in Jude Bellingham’s brother JobeCredit: Instagram
      Jobe is currently injured as the Blues look to continue his developmentCredit: Getty
      Unfortunately, for Bellingham MkII, his younger brother Jobe, life is currently the pits – which is where he finds himself right now.
      The 17-year-old’s career has been temporarily stalled by injury, which has forced him off track as Birmingham City’s medical team carry out running repairs on the strained stomach muscle he suffered in training back in January.
      Since then Bellingham Junior has been sidelined for six weeks, ruling him out of the Championship side’s last seven games, with weeks of hard rehab still ahead of him.
      It’s the first bump in the road for Jobe, an England international at Under-16, U17 and U18 level.
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      But Birmingham boss John Eustace is confident the midfielder will handle the pressure as he looks to carve out his own pathway in the pro game.
      He said: “Jobe is a fantastic young player. Until now his development has been excellent and he’s made 18 senior appearances in the last year. But overall, we feel Jobe is doing very, very well.”
      There has been a buzz about the Bellingham brothers since foreign scouts started flocking to Birmingham City’s Wast Hills Training Ground – long before Jude beat Trevor Francis’s record to become the Blues’ youngest debutant aged 16 years 38 days.
      Such was Bellingham’s prodigious, precocious talent, Birmingham retired his No.22 shirt when he left for Dortmund for a club record £25million, to become the most expensive 17-year-old in the history of the game. 
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      Fortunately for the cash-strapped Blues – like London buses – you wait forever for one to arrive and then two come along at once.
      By the time Jude was saying ‘Auf Wiedersehen,’ to St Andrew’s his younger brother Jobe, just 15 at the time, was included in City’s official photo-shoot promoting their new kit for the 2020-21 season.
      Jobe, who is more attack-minded than Jude, was named on the subs’ bench for Blues’ EFL Cup tie at home to Colchester United last August.
      But former Blues boss Lee Bowyer didn’t need to call on him that evening and Jobe narrowly missed the opportunity to nip in ahead of his big brother as Birmingham’s youngest ever debutant.
      However he did make his senior debut as a second-half sub against Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup last year to become Blues’ second youngest debutant, aged 16 years and 107 days.
      Since then, he has gone on to sign his first pro deal when he turned 17 in September and he has now made 18 appearances in all competitions for Blues.
      He has been carefully nurtured and 13 of those appearances have come from the bench as he clocked up 188 minutes of total playing time.
      The last thing Jobe needs is the pressure of being compared to one of Europe’s most coveted players, who made his mark at the World Cup in Qatar.
      Fortunately his future is in safe hands at a club who now have experience of how to keep expectation levels in check at such a fragile stage of a young pro’s career.
      Birmingham handled Jude’s progress expertly, and they are determined to protect Jobe in the same way, carefully monitoring and limiting media requests to interview him.
      They are acutely aware of the fact that Jude is a one-off and Jobe has his own career to carve out without the pressure of being constantly compared to his world-famous big bruv.
      Fortunately, proud dad Mark Bellingham – a former non-league player who scored more than 700 goals in his day – knows the score.
      He has expertly managed to keep his talented boys grounded and has no intention of letting the hype around Jude affect Jobe’s development.
      Eustace believes Jobe has one significant advantage over Jude – the fact Birmingham’s highly productive Academy is turning out a new generation of equally talented youngsters.
      Where Jude was a one-off who has lived in the full glare of the media spotlight since he was a kid, Jobe has a peer group of fellow Academy graduates also making their mark on Blues’ first team.
      Blues boss Eustace believes it’s healthier to compare Jobe’s progress with them – rather than his world-famous Champions’ League playing bro.
      He said:  “We have to balance where Jobe is with Jordan James, George Hall, Alfie Chang, who all need vital minutes with the first team.
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      “It’s not like we have just got one or two young players in the group, we have got a lot of young players coming through. 
      “It’s vitally important they develop at the right stage and I think Jobe is doing that extremely well.” More