the 2000–01 season with Bradford ultimately being relegated to Division One. During the summer of 2001 former loan club Nottingham Forest made an undisclosed bid for the player which was rejected. Following the failed transfer bid Forest manager David Platt said; "The offer was turned down, and as no further finance is available, we must assume the deal is dead" – David Platt This was not the last transfer offer Bradford would receive as just a few months later on 25 January 2002 the club received a £1 million transfer bid from fellow Division One side Burnley and, due to Bradford's poor financial status, the club had no option but to sell the player. Burnley Blake signed a three-year contract with the Clarets but did not feature much in the remaining six months of the season due to a hernia injury. In his second season at Burnley Blake was the club's top scorer with 22 goals in all competitions from 46 games. That summer, long time Burnley manager Stan Ternent left the club and was replaced by Steve Cotterill and under the new manager Blake continued his prolific goal scoring with 13 goals in the run up to the January transfer window. When the transfer window opened Blake was subject of multiple bids by Premiership clubs, all of which were rejected (at first). Several bids were made by Wigan Athletic who had offers of £500,000 and £600,000 rejected. Following the failed bids Wigan manager Paul Jewell said; "The position is that we made an offer for him and it's been turned down, it's as simple as that" – Paul Jewell Wigan later made a third for the player, a revised figure of £700,000. Again the Burnley board turned down this offer and no further bids were made by the Latics. In his final game of his first spell at Burnley he scored what is possibly the best goal of his Burnley career leathering in a stunning free kick from 35 yards in a local derby against Preston North End. Eventually a successful bid of £1.25 million was made by Birmingham City and Blake once again had a chance to prove himself in the top league. Birmingham City Blake made his debut for Birmingham in the FA Cup against Leeds United on 8 January 2005 as a second-half substitute. Blake was confident that he could push for a starting place at