Birmingham City made the perfect start to life under the guidance of manager Lee Bowyer last night as they secured a vital 2-1 victory over Reading at St Andrew's.

A strong start to the clash by the Blues resulted in Lukas Jutkiewicz heading in the opening goal in the fourth minute from Jeremie Bela's cross.

Undeterred by this setback, Reading levelled up proceedings in the 35th minute as Yakou Meite netted his eighth goal of the season.

Following the break, the Royals went close to taking the lead as Blues keeper Neil Etheridge made two fine saves before Harlee Dean netted what turned out to be the winner for the hosts in the 71st minute.

As a result of this victory, Birmingham extended their advantage over the Championship relegation zone to six points.

Whilst on-the-field matters have grabbed the headlines for the Blues this season, it has been revealed that they came close to being under new ownership during the previous campaign.

Brescia owner Massimo Cellino has admitted that he nearly bought Birmingham for a bargain price last year but was forced to call off a move due to the impact of the pandemic.

The 64-year-old opted to appoint former Birmingham head coach Pep Clotet as Brescia manager last month.

Speaking to Italian news outlet Giornale di Brescia (as cited by Sport Witness) about his previous interest in the Blues, the 64-year-old said: "I'd have liked to have taken Clotet instead of Delneri [Brescia's former manager], but the truth is that at that time I was in talks to buy Birmingham and if that operation had been successful, the coach would've been Clotet.

"It could have been a bargain, but Covid has slowed everything down."

GIVEMESPORT's Joshua Cole says...

When you consider that Clotet's arrival at Brescia marked the club's fifth managerial change of the season so far, it could be argued that Birmingham ought to breathing a sigh of relief that Cellino didn't purchase the club in 2020.

During his time as Leeds United owner, the Italian was temporarily disqualified from overseeing matters at the club by the Football League in 2014 due to the fact that he was found guilty of tax evasion in his homeland.

Whilst it is fair to say that the Blues have experienced a tough time under their current ownership which has overseen a points deduction for breaking Financial Fair Play rules, Cellino's lack of stability could have caused even more damage to the club's reputation.

Providing that Birmingham give Bowyer a sufficient amount of time to transform their fortunes, there is no reason why they cannot ensure survival this season and then push on in the Championship during the 2021/22 campaign.