Kevin Long has admitted it was ‘touch and go’ whether he would return to Birmingham City after heading out the exit door in May.
The Republic of Ireland defender was among six senior players released by Blues in cost-cutting measures at the end of last season. When Long said his goodbyes after the final day defeat to Sheffield United and posted a message on his social media channels he genuinely thought his short Blues career had reached its conclusion.
Fast-forward six weeks and Long was back in the building, much to the delight of head coach John Eustace – who made it clear that he wanted the 32-year-old to stick around at the end of last term.
On the subject of his goodbye message, Long tells BirminghamLive: “I was out of contract and at the time no official offer had been made. At the time my time was up at the club. Thankfully that’s not the case anymore and we got a deal done. I’m happy to be back, but at the time I was out of contract.
“That was new for me. It was the first time in my career I was ever out of contract going into the summer. It was a little weird but I kept working hard over the summer.”
Long was, to all intents and purposes, a free agent and admits to flirting with other clubs. A return to St Andrew’s was always his preference, though.
“I would say it was touch and go,” Long adds. “The manager made it clear to me, but he said it was out of his control with the board making the final decision on things. He made it pretty clear that he wanted to keep me, but for one reason or another it just went on over the summer.
“I spoke to a few other clubs, but from speaking to the manager at the end of last season it was always in the back of my mind (to come back). I really enjoyed my time here and it was ultimately somewhere I wanted to come back and progress again.”
For the first time in years, Long is enjoying an uninterrupted pre-season campaign. His final pre-season with Burnley was ruined by injury and the two before that were hampered by bouts of Covid-19.
He has started all three of Blues’ matches to date and was one of three players to complete 90 minutes against Northampton Town on Wednesday. All the signs are pointing towards a starting berth for Long, who initially joined Blues in an emergency deal last January to solve a defensive crisis.
“This year I was happy to get the deal done early and come back in,” says Long. “I only missed one day of pre-season when they were doing testing.
“To come back in and do a full pre-season is something I’ve wanted for a while. I just want to step on again as a player. I think once I’m fully fit I will have a lot to offer this team and that’s the plan. I want to play as many games as possible and help the club do well.
“We can only do that by sticking together and performing as a team. Everyone has been working hard in pre-season so that’s what we want to do. We want to finish as high up the table as possible.”
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