A rather strange statement from Birmingham City today, hot the heels of an equally baffling one from Hearts last night.

Whilst it isn’t strictly Fulham related, it does mention two Fulham players:

Players recommended by the Board, such as Babel, Odemwingie, Pennant and a Chinese player, for commercial reasons, didn’t arrive as no approval was forthcoming from the manager. Players such as Dembele chose not to come and N’Zogbia due to his sudden demand for last minute increase in wages. In the case of Zamora, it was felt there had been quite a few injuries and anyway he signed a massive new contract at Fulham due to our approach.

As the legal dispute is ongoing, it is appropriate that this myth of interference is put to rest once and for all.

You can understand the Birmingham board’s desire to defend themselves against any untrue media speculation, but it is particularly clumsily worded. The section about Zamora, who I can’t seriously believe Birmingham felt they could sign, reads as though it was written by a five year old. Of course, Moussa Dembele was widely tipped to make the move to Birmingham last summer but eventually decided to join Fulham.