Heard the story about the Midlands club facing relegation to League One before the former Premier League star worked his magic to keep them afloat?
Not Derby and Wayne Rooney, who stayed above the line only on the final day of the season and remain in chaos, but the club 40 miles to the south-west – Birmingham City.
When Lee Bowyer replaced Aitor Karanka as manager on March 17, Blues were only three points above 22nd-placed Rotherham, who had four games in hand.
Lee Bowyer has transformed Birmingham City’s fortunes and kept them in the Championship
Blues won five of their final 10 games after Bowyer took over to avoid relegation to League One
Worse still, their next five fixtures were against Reading, Watford, Swansea, Brentford and Stoke – all clubs chasing either automatic promotion or a play-off spot.
When Bowyer accepted the job, it is fair to say many thought he was making a mistake.
For Bowyer to guide Birmingham – a club never far from a crisis – to safety with two games to spare, then, is a remarkable achievement.
In recent seasons, Blues have always been fighting relegation and fans have experienced nail-biting final days with the club’s Championship status in the balance right to the end.
Bowyer spent the vast majority of his career in the top flight, making 397 Premier League appearances during his time with Leeds, West Ham and Newcastle, as well as Birmingham themselves, but the 44-year-old proved during his three-year spell as Charlton boss that he can inspire players in the most difficult circumstances.
Birmingham stayed up by the relative comfort of nine points in the final Championship table
Bowyer left Charlton to take the Birmingham job and has clearly enjoyed the challenge
Against a permanent backdrop of financial turmoil, Bowyer led Charlton into the Championship in 2019 and they were relegated only by a single point the following season, despite operating with a tighter budget than they had had in League One.
If anyone deserves some room for manoeuvre in the transfer market, it is Bowyer.
With some careful additions to the current squad, Birmingham could aspire to a mid-table finish next season before looking to build again the following year.
It is worth remembering, too, that Bowyer took a risk in moving to St Andrew’s: he was popular with Charlton fans and the job suited his family life.
Having played his part by keeping Blues in the second tier, Bowyer needs the opportunity to shape things his own way by bringing in the players and staff he identifies.
Birmingham were sliding towards League One under their former manager Aitor Karanka
Because before he showed up, Birmingham were sliding towards the third tier.
The new manager quickly revived the spirits of a squad who had become miserable under Karanka simply by reminding them they were good players, and that he would have declined the job were he not convinced he could keep them up.
Simplicity was the key. ‘Footballers are not the brightest of people,’ said Bowyer after the 1-0 win over Swansea on April 2. ‘Don’t confuse them.’
There was a twinkle in his eye as he said it, but the basic point was clear: don’t over-complicate. There was intensive work on team shape and set pieces during the early training sessions, which was welcomed by the players.
‘In our situation, you need simplicity and direction,’ captain Harlee Dean told Sportsmail in an interview in April.
‘For instance, the new manager has told our wingers: ‘I don’t want you doing step-overs and chopping, chopping, chopping. I want you to get it out of your feet and deliver it’.
Another key change was to introduce one and two-touch drills in training. Bowyer had noticed that Birmingham were conceding goals because players were spending too much time on the ball, assessing their options. In a relegation battle, there is no time for that.
Harlee Dean scored a crucial late goal when Birmingham won a six-pointer at Rotherham
To sharpen his players’ decision-making, Bowyer brought in six or seven-a-side matches where no player was allowed to take more than two touches at a time.
In the eight matches before safety was secured, Birmingham conceded only six goals, three of which came in a single match against Premier League-bound Watford. In the final eight games under Karanka, they had let in 12.
Life will not be plain sailing from here. For a club who have struggled in the last two seasons, Birmingham have a high wage bill, while the departure on May 11 of Xuandong Ren as chief executive, after a turbulent four years, spoke to recent difficulties behind the scenes.
At least Birmingham now have a solid operator in the dugout once more. Bowyer has shown at Charlton that he is so much more than a firefighter – and with the right backing, he can do so again with Blues.