Birmingham City: Paul Robinson offered new player-coach contract

Paul Robinson, now 38, has done 22 seasons as a professional, making 761 career appearances

Birmingham City club captain Paul Robinson has been offered a new one-year player-coach contract by Blues manager Harry Redknapp.

The 38-year-old former Watford, West Bromwich Albion, Bolton Wanderers and Leeds United defender was without a club when he first arrived at St Andrew's on a one-month trial in 2012.

But he has now been offered the chance of a sixth successive season for Blues.

The new contract again offers Robinson a chance to work on the coaching side.

He has already worked with the club's youngsters at Academy, Under-18 and Under-21 level, and last season assisted senior professional development coach Richard Beale with the club's Under-23s.

Robinson will be suspended for the start of next season, having been banned for three games for kicking out at Aston Villa captain James Chester in Redknapp's first game in charge.

He missed Blues' last two games, in which they avoided relegation from the Championship, after which Redknapp agreed to continue as manager.

Paul Robinson's time in football

Former England Under-21 international Paul Robinson began his career with his home-town club Watford.

He first arrived in the Midlands when he was signed by Gary Megson for West Bromwich Albion in 2003.

After six years at The Hawthorns, a season-long loan move to Bolton Wanderers was made permanent in 2010.

But he was released two years later, finishing the season on loan with Leeds United, before joining Blues as a free agent in September 2012.

He has now made 171 appearances for Birmingham, scoring four times, three of them in the space of eight games in 2015-16, having previously gone almost two years without a goal.

Blues' decisions over contracts

As well as Robinson, Blues are still waiting on decisions from several of their young squad players, keeper Jake Weaver, defenders Daniel Cleary, Wes Harding and Dominic Bernard, as well as strikers Wes McDonald, Beryly Lubala and Kyle McFarlane.

But previous manager Gianfranco Zola had already told several other young players that they would not be kept on prior to the end of the season.

They have let go goalkeeper Josh Tibbetts, who has since joined Peterborough United, winger Koby Arthur, defenders Noe Baba and Logan Kwiecien, goalkeeper Josh Tibbetts, striker George O'Neill, and midfielders Charlee Adams and Charlie Cooper, the son of former Blues player Mark and grandson of ex-Blues manager Terry Cooper.

Midfielder Reece Brown was also released before signing for Football League new boys Forest Green.

But Blues' first-choice keeper Tomasz Kuszczak and defender Jonathan Grounds, and fellow keepers Adam Legzdins and Connal Trueman have all signed deals. And the re-signing of Craig Gardner from West Bromwich Albion was automatically triggered at the end of the season.