BIRMINGHAM newboy Roger Johnson met up with his Blues team-mates for the first time at their return to training this week.

But it's safe to assume that Roger's missus Melissa wasn't enlisted to help put the players through their paces at Wast Hills.

Shame really given that this WAGS' WORKOUT deserves a sneaky peak...(the exercise bit at least, if not the girly nail varnish bit).

A few eyebrows would have been raised with the news that one-time Blues and Wolves target Oguchi 'Gooch' Onyewu has joined Italian giants AC Milan on a three-year deal.

After all, at the age of 27 he's hardly developed into a world-beater and he failed to attract the big-boys of the Premier League following his short loan stint at Newcastle.

USA international Onyewu is, at best, a middle of the road Premier League player and would have been an acceptable acquisition for either Blues or Wolves.

So, call me sceptical, but I can help but think that poor old Gooch's move to the San Siro is one big marketing ploy. Because while Real Madrid look to cash in on shirt sales following the mega-bucks purchase of Cristiano Ronaldo, maybe AC Milan want to corner the multi-billion dollar American market?

And the fact that they travel to The Home Depot Center on July 19 to take on David Beckham's LA Galaxy in a friendly, just adds further weight to my theory.

Following Blues' interest in Newcastle's Joey Barton and Albion's Roman Bednar's recent public brush with the murky world of illegal drugs, it appears that the Midlands football patch could easily produce a bad boy XI.

There's a few candidates. For example, ex-Albion goalkeeper Russell Hoult was sacked by the Baggies following saucy revelations, Blues midfielder Lee Bowyer has been no angel in the past while Villa stars Gabby Agbonlahor and Ashley Young have both been caught out by national tabloid stings.

So who would make your Midlands Bad Boy XI (past, present or future)? Answers below.........

Having been released by Blues, Mehdi Nafti is preparing for the next chapter of his football career in Greece with Aris Thessaloniki.

However, surely nothing prepared the Tunisian midfielder for a reaction like this when he touched down to finalise his two-year deal with the Greek Super League outfit.

And for Nafti's own take on this airport pandemonium, read my colleague Colin Tattum's recent article here

Daniel Sturridge only had to make a quick phonecall to his Manchester City team-mate Shaun Wright-Phillips to discover the perils of moving to Chelsea.

The Birmingham-born teenager, nephew of ex-Wolves striker Dean and former Blues forward SImon, has obviously wanted away from Eastlands for sometime and is now set to head to the capital.

While Sturridge is an exciting young talent, he is hardly a world-beater and will find himself warming the Stamford Bridge bench on more occasions than he will actually take to the field for the Premier League giants.

If Sturridge is happy to continue his development on the fringes of Chelsea's first-team then fair play to the lad, but he only has to look at the likes of Wright-Phillips, Scott Sinclair and Glen Johnson to see the frustration that is likely to come his way.

Here's another opportunity to see a part of Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow in Birmingham that was of special interest to Blues fans.

Fast forward the below video to 4mins 28 secs and you will see Blues duo Franck Queudrue and Maik Taylor sat in the audience. However Taylor has a lucky escape, as funnyman McIntyre draws attention to Queudrue before going on to poke fun at the defender's deadball skills and the French nation in general.

Towards the end of last season I attended the pre-match press conference ahead of West Bromwich Albion's penultimate fixture of the campaign against Liverpool.

Conversation with Tony Mowbray eventually switched to the possibility of his star players jumping the Hawthorns ship following their imminent relegation back to the Championship.

The Albion boss said that he felt that his players should feel that they have a responsibility to stay at the club in order to help get them straight back into the top flight, having played a part in their relegation.

Well Tony, surely now it's time for you to do the same.

Another chance to see myself and Colin Tattum talk all things Birmingham City in our recent two-part Blues View Special.

Be sure to leave any comments or questions to be included in the next installment below.

PART ONE

PART TWO

Christian Benitez's British-based agent Barry McIntosh has made the remarkable and bold (or foolish) claim that the Birmingham City target is as good as Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi.

The below video tribute shows the Ecuador international in action for club and county; and it's fair to say that the grainy images do show that the 23-year-old is lightning quick with an eye for goal.

However being 'Messi-esque' is some statement, what do you think?

It finally appears that the long-running (and very boring) Bobo Balde saga might be drawing to a close.

The Celtic outcast has had as many links to the West Midlands as Kevin Phillips - yet the Guinea defender has probably never set foot in the region.

That may be about to change with the 33-year-old finally looking closer to sealing a move to Blues that was originally mooted 12 months ago as his contract at Parkheard enters its final weeks.

In the last year Balde, who has also been heavily linked to Villa and Wolves in the past, has been happy to take his £30,000-a-week salary while enjoying the odd kickabout with Celtic's youth team (as well as continuing to develop his love of photography, as has been suggested by sources in Scotland).

Why anybody would want to sign a player with a proven track record of being a troublesome character remains to be seen, but Big Eck obviously has faith in the big African.