{"id":327423,"date":"2011-03-21T16:50:19","date_gmt":"2011-03-21T16:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/03\/21\/mcleish-pressure-is-on\/"},"modified":"2011-03-21T16:50:19","modified_gmt":"2011-03-21T16:50:19","slug":"mcleish-pressure-is-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/21\/mcleish-pressure-is-on\/","title":{"rendered":"McLeish – Pressure is on"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\t <\/p>\n

\n
\n

20110321<\/p>\n

\t<\/p>\n

\n

Blues boss looking for his troops to raise their game during run-in<\/h3>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tBy Chris Burton<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 Last updated: 21st March 2011\u00a0\u00a0 \"Subscribe<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

\t\t\t\"McLeish<\/p>\n

McLeish: Basement battle<\/p>\n

SKY SPORTS ON SKY<\/b>
There’s more live football on Sky Sports than ever before, including the Barclays Premier League, UEFA Champions League, Clydesdale Bank Premier League, England away Euro 2012 qualifiers and La Liga. With four live Sky Sports channels, as well as Sky Sports News, you’ll never miss a moment on Sky. Click here<\/a><\/b> for more.<\/div>\n

\t\t \t<\/p>\n

Related links<\/h3>\n

Teams<\/h4>\n

Also see<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Alex McLeish admits the battle to beat the drop is likely to rest on who can ‘hold their nerve’.\n<\/p>\n

The Birmingham boss finds himself locked in a Premier League relegation dogfight with nine games of the season remaining.<\/p>\n

A 2-1 defeat to fellow strugglers Wigan on Saturday saw the Blues slip to second from bottom in the top flight standings.<\/p>\n

Fortunately for them, things are so tight towards the bottom that only one point separates them from safety.<\/p>\n

There is, however, an all too real threat that the club could end the season as Carling Cup winners but facing up to life in the Championship next term.<\/p>\n

McLeish remains confident that his side can steer a path to safety, but admits that nerves will start to fray as the campaign edges towards a conclusion.<\/p>\n

“The pressure intensifies and I guess it’s about who can hold their nerve,” the Scot told the Birmingham Mail<\/i>.<\/p>\n

“We certainly need to start winning some games.”<\/p>\n

Scary<\/h4>\n

With almost half of the division still looking anxiously over their shoulder, McLeish believes the scrap to preserve Premier League status will go right down to the wire.<\/p>\n

“There are about 10 teams involved, but I’d like to be 10 places up the division,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’ still concertinaed down there, but the games are obviously becoming of greater importance.<\/p>\n

“There are players who have been in this position before, it’s up to them to show that they have the bottle to get out of it and get us further up the table because that kind of performance we saw at Wigan just won’t do.”<\/p>\n

McLeish added: “The situation has been scary for some time. We’ve been down there once or twice before.<\/p>\n

“But we’re there now, there’s no getting away from it. It’s up to us to deal with it, and it will take strong minds. The players owe me and the fans a performance in the next game, no question.”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tBarclays Prem To Stay Up 10\/11 Win Outright: Birmingham 4\/9<\/a>\n\t\t <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\t\t <\/p>\n

\t<\/span><\/div>\n

‘ );
\n\t\t\t\t\t}
\n\t\t\t\t});<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t$.ajax(
\n\t\t\t\t\turl: “\/yourview\/comments_json\/0,26302,6828616_”+selectedPageNumber+”_20,00.txt”,
\n\t \t\t\t\tcache: true,
\n\t\t\t\t\tdataType: “json”,
\n\t \t\t\t\tsuccess: function(json)
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tloadingFinished = true;\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t$(‘#load-comments’).html(”);
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tprocessJSONComments(json, selectedPageNumber);<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tif (typeof _hbPageView != “undefined”)
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmyPN = hbx.pn + ” – ” + selectedPageNumber;
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmyMLC = hbx.mlc + “\/” + selectedPageNumber;
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t_hbPageView(myPN, myMLC);<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tif (typeof SKY_TRACKING != “undefined”)
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ section will remain as it is on the page
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ contentType will be “article comments” or “match comments”
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSKY_TRACKING.contentType = “article comments”;
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSKY_TRACKING.pagination = “page ” + selectedPageNumber;
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsky.tracking.launch ( SKY_TRACKING );<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t$(‘#load-comments’).css(‘min-height’, ” );
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t$(‘#load-comments’).css(‘display’, ” );<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t$(‘#load-comments’).children(‘.ss-opinion-comment-box-comment’).show();
\n\t\t\t\t\t},
\n\t\t\t\t\terror: function (XMLHttpRequest, textStatus, errorThrown)
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tloadingFinished = true;
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t$(‘#load-comments #loading’).remove();
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t$(‘#load-comments’).children(‘.ss-opinion-comment-box-comment’).show();<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t});<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\twindow.location.hash=’yourviewcomments’;\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\treturn false;
\n\t\t\t});
\n\t\t}<\/p>\n

\t\tfunction processJSONComments(json,page)
\n\t\t\tvar perPage = 20;
\n\t\t\tvar beginIndex = (page-1) * perPage;
\n\t\t\tvar createdComments = 0;
\n\t\t\tvar comment;<\/p>\n

\t\t\t$(‘.ss-opinion-comment-box ul.pagination li’).removeClass(‘on’);
\n\t\t\t$(‘.ss-opinion-comment-box ul.pagination’).find(‘li:eq(‘+page+’)’).addClass(‘on’);
\n\t\t\t$(‘.pag-key span’).html(page);<\/p>\n

\t\t\tfor(var i in json)
\n\t\t\t\tcomment = jsoni;
\n\t\t\t\tcreateComment(i, comment);
\n\t\t\t\tcreatedComments++;<\/p>\n

\t\t\tupdatePagination(page);
\n\t\t}<\/p>\n

\t\tfunction processXMLComments(xml,page)
\n\t\t\tvar perPage = 20;
\n\t\t\tvar beginIndex = (page-1) * perPage;
\n\t\t\tvar createdComments = 0;<\/p>\n

\t\t\t$(‘.ss-opinion-comment-box ul.pagination li’).removeClass(‘on’);
\n\t\t\t$(‘.ss-opinion-comment-box ul.pagination’).find(‘li:eq(‘+page+’)’).addClass(‘on’);
\n\t\t\t$(‘.pag-key span’).html(page);<\/p>\n

\t\t\t$(“comment”,xml).each(
\n\t\t\t\tfunction(index,node)
\n\t\t\t\t\tcreateComment(index, node);
\n\t\t\t\t\tcreatedComments++;<\/p>\n

\t\t\t);<\/p>\n

\t\t\tupdatePagination(page);
\n\t\t}<\/p>\n

\t\tfunction updatePagination(page)
\n\t\t\tvar paginationItems = $(“ul.pagination”);
\n\t\t\tvar totalPages = 1;
\n\t\t\tvar startPage = 1;<\/p>\n

\t\t\tif( totalPages ‘ +
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstartPage + ”;<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif( startPage == page )
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t$(node).addClass(‘on’);
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t else
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t$(node).removeAttr(‘class’);<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t$(node).html(pageHtml);<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstartPage++;
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t}
\n\t\t\t\t\t);
\n\t\t\t\t}
\n\t\t\t);<\/p>\n

\t\t\tsetupCommentPageClickHandlers();<\/p>\n

\t\t}<\/p>\n

\t\tfunction createComment(index, commentNode )
\n\t\t\tif(commentNode.ownerDocument)
\n\t\t\t\tvar user = $(“user”,commentNode).text();
\n\t\t\t\tvar favTeam = $(“favTeam”,commentNode).text();
\n\t\t\t\tvar comment = $(“body”,commentNode).text();
\n\t\t\t\tvar dateCreated = $(“dateCreated”,commentNode).text();
\n\t\t\t\tvar editorComments = $(“editorComments”,commentNode).text();
\n\t\t\t else
\n\t\t\t\tvar user = commentNode.user;
\n\t\t\t\tvar favTeam = commentNode.favTeam;
\n\t\t\t\tvar comment = commentNode.body;
\n\t\t\t\tvar dateCreated = commentNode.dateCreated;
\n\t\t\t\tvar editorComments = commentNode.editorComments;
\n\t\t\t\tvar nomination = commentNode.ysTitle;<\/p>\n

\t\t\tvar commentHTML = ”;<\/p>\n

\t\t\t$(‘#load-comments’).append(commentHTML);
\n\t\t}<\/p>\n

\nSend us your views<\/legend>\n

\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t

\t\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t

\t\t