Lee Bowyer spent two years at Birmingham City as a player and after hanging up his boots, returned to the side in a managerial capacity earlier on this year.

Since taking over with the Blues, it’s been a case of mixed fortunes for the boss. It initially looked like he was the right man doing the right things at St Andrew’s but since the start of the new season, things have taken a turn for the worse for the club.

Bowyer’s side now sit in 18^th place in the league table and are looking at more of a relegation battle than a fight for promotion.

There is still plenty of the season left to turn things around though and after a positive result against Swansea at the weekend – the Blues stormed to a 2-1 win over the Welsh outfit – things may finally be getting back on track for the second tier side.

Bowyer’s biggest issue has been the lack of goals in the side. No matter which strike partnership he has turned to or who he has brought into the team, Birmingham have so far this campaign struggled to put the ball in the back of the net. Before the win over Swansea – and the scoring of two goals – the side had failed to put the ball past the keeper in their last six games.

It’s not as though the Blues didn’t have a variety of striking options, it’s just the options they had weren’t able to bag any goals.

We’ll have to wait a bit longer to see if it is an issue that has finally been solved by Bowyer though, as one 90 minute game is not enough to judge him by, especially if they go back to failing to score again in their next tie. However, turning to the experienced Troy Deeney worked at the weekend and if he can find goals regularly, then he may have found his solution for that particular problem.

Apart from the goalscoring problem, Bowyer faces the problem of clearing out a side of its deadwood and dragging it back up towards the top end of the table where they want to be. The Blues will not be happy settling for lower-end of the Championship, having once been a Premier League side. The fans and the owners will want more success in their future, as that entire jaunt in the first tier will feel like a lifetime ago right now.

If Bowyer can turn things around, get his side firing consistently and get them back up towards the higher echelons of the table, then he will have plenty of backing and plenty of faith in his ability. If he continues to falter though and the relegation places become a very real possibility, it would not be unlikely for the board to decide to part ways with their former player.

Next up for the manager is the task of seeing off Middlesbrough, who themselves are doing fairly well this year. After such a good result at the weekend, Birmingham will now have to pick up where they left off in their next game. They cannot afford to go back to no goals and no wins or they risk a relegation battle. If they can start to pick up wins though and take things one game at a time, then Bowyer might have an easier ride from here on out.