Claudio Ranieri is surprisingly relaxed and happy for a man apparently with the executioner's axe hovering above his head.
The Chelsea manager has every reason to be happy following the goalless draw which took his unbeaten side to the top of the table.
Birmingham produced a brave performance as promised by manager Steve Bruce and their display confirmed that the Midlands club are rapidly coming of age in the Premiership as they collected a valuable home point.
Bruce said afterwards: "I am very proud of my team. I would not swap them for anyone else." Chelsea dominated most of the game as they failed to win for only the second time in eight outings.
Ranieri used his rotation system again and gave Joe Cole and Hernan Crespo their first starts in the Premiership.
Chelsea began at a frantic pace and put Birmingham under considerable pressure but the high-flying Midlands club responded with a solid performance in which their two key defenders were skipper Kenny Cunningham and Matthew Upson.
As a result neither Crespo nor Jimmy Hasselbaink were given any scope to shine in the first half.
A feature of Birmingham's early play was the dazzling performance of Australian Stan Lazaridis. He was a major threat to Chelsea down the left flank where he was given plenty of space by the Londoners.
Birmingham's best moment came when Christophe Dugarry raced past four Chelsea defenders only to finish with a weak shot straight at Carlo Cudicini.
In the second half Chelsea put Birmingham under increasing pressure and only a fine deflected save by Maik Taylor kept out an effort from Hasselbaink.
Ranieri sent on Damien Duff for Cole in the 65th minute but the former Blackburn star failed to spark a much-needed late win.
Cunningham, in particular, was outstanding for Birmingham in a period when Chelsea applied unrelenting pressure.