So it appears now that Birmingham's public courting of Tottenham Hotspurs' Robbie Keane was nothing more than a publicity stunt. At least, that is the accusation of Mr. Keane. According to an ESPN.uk article, Keane was given permission to talk with Birmingham about a transfer, but Blues claimed quickly that a move would be too costly.

This is the second time that speculation has been made about a team looking for publicity in a huge transfer that never had a chance coming to fruition. Earlier this month, Blackburn claimed to have made an opening bid for former European Footballer of the Year Ronaldinho from A.C. Milan. Ronaldinho claimed he wanted to leave Milan, but would only play again in his native Brazil.

Perhaps Blackburn and Birmingham were trying to get a rise out of their fans in an attempt to show that they are trying to secure top shelf talent without actually having to go through the trouble of actually doing so. 

Birmingham's home page noted on Jan. 18th that another striker target of theirs, Kenny Miller, whom it looked like they had in the bag, will now be heading to Turkey to join Turkish champions Bursaspor. Feb. 2 is quickly approaching, and if Birmingham wants to avoid a relegation battle, they need help from the striker position.

Currently, Blues' top goal scorer is Craig Gardner ... a midfielder ... with four. Need I say more?