Autobiography

most wanted to see him in was the penalty
area. But Jose, having beaten two or three
men to get into the box, would then sometimes
take the ball back outside the penalty box and
try to beat the same players again.
Barry also had the responsibility of keeping
him happy at Birmingham. On one occasion he
suggested to Barry that he might have to put
in a transfer request because his girlfriend was
not happy living in England. I asked Barry what
he had done to convince him to stay and he
replied,
‘I told him - don’t change your f**king club,
change your f**king girlfriend!’
For all this I loved Dominguez. As a left winger
once myself, I appreciated his ability as much
as anyone; of all the Birmingham players I
watched during my time on the board, he was
one of my favourites. I also had another
reason for loving him. In May 1995 we sold
him to Sporting Lisbon for a then club record
fee of £1.6 million.
Barry also bought the big centre-back Liam
Daish from Cambridge United for the same sort
of money and sold him on for a million, and
Gary Breen, originally from Peterborough, went
to Coventry for £2 million. Steve Claridge was
bought for £200,000, and we sold him to
Leicester for £1.3 million. Tremendous deals
from a remarkable man.
He will always be remembered for his huge
squad of players, but we should not forget
some very astute buying and selling, and most
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