BIRMINGHAM 0 STOKE 0

AS MEANINGLESS statements go, it was right up there with Tony Blair's appointment of John 'Two Jags' Prescott as Deputy Prime Minister in 1997.

In fact, it was almost as empty as St Andrew's itself.

The decision by the Birmingham board not to grant any complimentary tickets for this game to Carson Yeung - who is hoping to take control of the Blues - will not exactly have broken his heart.

The Stoke fans sang: "They're here, they're there, they're every f***ing where, empty seats, empty seats."

And they were not wrong. The attendance of 21,694 was 8,600 down on capacity.

And three thousand of those had travelled the short distance from the Potteries. Just days earlier against Portsmouth, Birmingham posted a crowd of below 20,000.

You really would not think this is a newly-promoted club.

And Yeung would not have needed friends in high places to get tickets for this game. In fact, it would be staggering to think that he even wanted one.

Quite what the Hong Kong businessman's fascination is with the club is hard to tell at this stage.

Alex McLeish's side play barely functional football in a barely populated stadium.

They have spent the past four years bouncing up and down between the Premier League and the Championship - and they look for all the world like a club that needs some love.

The potential is thought to be there even if the stadium is still short of some development.

The club competed in the top half of the Premier League as recently as five years ago - but David Sullivan and David Gold never invested quite enough to see if the Blues could be lifted any higher.

The joint owners might well wonder how they are managing to sell the Midlands side for £80million when they seemed perfectly happy to accept £50million for it less than two years ago.

The team is short of any notable assets. In fact, the number of players aged over 30 means the likes of Lee Bowyer, Stephen Carr, Barry Ferguson and Maik Taylor carry only a nominal value.

Yeung's deal is now almost certain to go through, even allowing for the fact that he might not pass the Premier League's dubiously applied 'fit and proper person' test.

Assuming the take-over is given the thumbs-up, Yeung's Grandtop International Holdings, which operates in China, will increase their stake to around 80 per cent.

They told the London Stock Exchange this week that they plan to "develop the club by investing in and strengthening the squad and infrastructure of the club over time".

Considering they might need to replace the entire team, that might take quite some time.

Not one of their players showed any evidence that they could produce something out of the ordinary to break down the resistance of a stubborn Stoke side.

It can't be a surprise that many Blues fans seem to have discovered more worthy pursuits to occupy their time on a Saturday afternoon.

The Blues were fortunate to take a point against Stoke.

Delap caused panic in the Birmingham box with one long-range throw - and Keith Fahey was forced to head over his own bar from almost on his goal-line.

The veteran Kevin Phillips got little change up front from Abdoulaye Faye - and Birmingham looked one-paced in the first half, missing the running power of injured Cameron Jerome.

The Blues did trouble Stoke keeper Thomas Sorensen with a long-range effort from Franck Queudrue.

And they almost snatched the valuable three points when Garry O'Connor, at full stretch from a Sebastian Larsson free-kick, sent in a flying header that was clawed out brilliantly by the Danish stopper.

But other than that, Stoke looked the likelier to win the match. Potters boss Tony Pulis was dealt an early blow when James Beattie left the field on 11 minutes after falling from a height following an aerial challenge with Joe Hart.

But they came close to winning when Ricardo Fuller's header looked to have crossed the line but was adjudged by referee Chris Foy to have been handled.

It is perhaps an indication of how far Stoke have come since winning promotion to the top flight that they see a point at St Andrew's as "disappointing".

Other than a few flash-points, this was certainly an early candidate for the worst game of the season.

Pulis revealed in his post-match press conference his intention to bring Peter Reid to the Britannia Stadium to work alongside him as his assistant.

He added: "Peter wants to come back to England. My current assistant David Kemp is going to South America to look after our scouting options.

"There is a minor issue about securing his release from his job with the Thailand FA - but we believe that it will not present a problem for us."

But this appointment should be greeted with a note of caution. It is difficult to see what the former Manchester City boss can offer Stoke when he has spent the last few years coaching the Thailand national team.

He has not worked as a manager since a short-lived spell as boss of Coventry in 2004. Before that, he was dismissed by City and Sunderland, albeit after achieving success at both.

Then he lost his job at Leeds after an uninspired spell at Elland Road.

Fortunes in football turn on the smallest of decisions. Let's hope Pulis has not made one he might regret.

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