Birmingham City at home match thread

[Hxj]

Nothing better than than an OTIB meltdown on a Saturday after three games in the season.

Well done!

Completely irrational - but well done!

[1960maaan]

That , in the words of Talksport , was a dog with fleas. 
We did have spells we pushed them back, but with very little actual threat. The number of bad passes was ridiculous, from the first minute we tried to thread the eye of a needle with passes and they had a field day picking them off . I don't know what Pearson was thinking with Bell down the middle, though I don't think he got a fair shake from the Ref, he lacks presence and looked better wide. That and starting Cornick over Sykes baffled me. I mentioned the Ref and while he had no bearing on the result I thought he was very lenient towards them and picky with us. From where I was Dickies 2nd booking was incredibly harsh, yet there were a couple of 2 footed tackles he let go.

No argument with result, it was what we deserved, we were poor from the first minute, the passing was as bad as I can remember.  Vyner being able to switch play can be a real weapon, today if his pass wasn't cut out he found the 3rd row of the stand, similar can be said of almost all of them. 
I would guess our MotM would be someone scoring about 6 out of 10. Funny enough , though I knew Williams would come off, he was about the best player on the pitch for us when they made the change. 

2 poor performances in the first 2 home games doesn't bode well, we need to get it together quickly. Not sure where the cohesion , tempo and team work from last week went , but we looked a shadow of the side that beat Millwall. Pearson needs a good week to hope to get something at Hull.

[sludge]

Same problem for as long as I can remember- we get outmuscled time after time and never recruit any players with strength. Always lightweight 

[pj76]

the best movement I saw all afternoon were the red and white paper planes drifting down to the corner flag

[Mattredrobin]

1 hour ago, Andy082005 said:

Genuine question to anyone - are we evolving ? Are we any better now then we were 12 months ago? If anything it looks like we have gone backwards. I don’t think we had a shot on target today 
 

Have certain players improved? 
 

I swear all we see are clubs like Birmingham, who were an absolute car crash of a club - go through their transition and then go gliding past us 

I think we are but very slowly there certainly are players who have improved but there are some that haven't. The club has spent far to much and Pearson has had to pick up the pieces of that. It takes time but you don't get time these days sadly. 

One thing that you can't argue with is the players have always given 100% under Pearson....today that wasn't evident and that's what worries me. Its only 3 games I know and the window is still open but the way Pearson has been talking sounds to me like we won't be getting anyone in. If we don't I really fear for us. 

[Offside]

Such a disappointing performance. What happened to the high energy style we are meant to be adopting? I saw it from Brum, who were hungrier than us throughout, but not from us. 

We started very slowly. Then as we began to try to get a grip on the game we gave the ball away, which ultimately led to their first goal. Second half with Sykes on and Bell wide we stretched them more, but apart from the chance Wells didn’t put away we created nothing.
 

Too much pedestrian football played at walking pace and far too many basic errors. 

[tin]

5 hours ago, tin said:

Seen the starting XI and I think we might be in for a tough afternoon. I rate Brum’s FBs - Laird and Buchanan - Beilik and Sunjic are decent at this level, I like Dembele and Hogan had a great record against us. 

Their Achilles heel is at CB, IMO, and I guess that’s why Bell and Mehmeti start as they have pace to get in behind. But if Mehmeti’s on the left and Cornick’s on the right, I don’t think Bell’s all-round game is suitable to play through the middle. That said, go get them, boys. First big test for us today IMO. 

And that rang out very true. As predicted, Bell didn’t do enough for me again, I was disappointed in Mehmeti, and I’m struggling to see what Cornick offers beyond a long throw. 

Birmingham look a good side, though, and I expect them to be there or thereabouts this season. They’ve got rid of 13 players for £5.5m and replaced them with nine new signings for £4.7m.

While our season won’t be defined on today, we need to sign proven quality at this level before the window shuts IMO.

[ralphindevon]

I’m not sure if you can blame Pearson or not but too many players just playing below par today.

At least 3 times players let passes go over there foot and out for a throw. I mean you wouldn’t see that on the Downs. Poor! 

[REDOXO]

8 minutes ago, ralphindevon said:

I’m not sure if you can blame Pearson or not but too many players just playing below par today.

At least 3 times players let passes go over there foot and out for a throw. I mean you wouldn’t see that on the Downs. Poor! 

Yes I agree with that. 
 

Not starting Sykes and Wells was a real issue if anyone is looking to hang anything on Pearson. However if you can’t run pass trap or shoot you have a bigger problem. 
 

Im not sure what the issue is, but today was awful all over the field. Despite this very obvious fact Nakhi missed an open goal which would have been a game changer!

[frenchred]

If that performance today is what we got to look forward to this will be a very very long season

[95red]

Poor again  at home, possession  football  don't suit us ,teams at ashton  gate will take us  off .

 

[Bodiesaffer]

Second best today, poor movement, didn’t pass it well at all.  Too many off their game.  Wells scores and we could of saved a point.  Sam had no effect up top, keep him as the left of the 3.  Zak’s choice of pass was shocking today.  Pointless red card.  Brum looked solid tbh.

[Mr Popodopolous]

40 minutes ago, tin said:

And that rang out very true. As predicted, Bell didn’t do enough for me again, I was disappointed in Mehmeti, and I’m struggling to see what Cornick offers beyond a long throw. 

Birmingham look a good side, though, and I expect them to be there or thereabouts this season. They’ve got rid of 13 players for £5.5m and replaced them with nine new signings for £4.7m.

While our season won’t be defined on today, we need to sign proven quality at this level before the window shuts IMO.

They also got £10m in Bellingham sell-on money.

[ralphindevon]

I’ve only read a fraction of stuff on here so probably missed it but also heard nothing mentioned on radio Bristol driving home.

I thought Yeboah was a real live wire when he came on. Caused them a few problems. A definite plus from today.

[RedM]

2 hours ago, BigTone said:

No we can't wait

That's my belief too. It's a huge gamble whatever we do, but I really think we cannot afford to be playing catch up all season, which is my fear we we just cross our fingers. At least right now the window is open and we can in effect do something. Okay there are no guarantees we can bring in success, but I would we more upset if we didn't at least take the opportunity to try to.

[ralphindevon]

16 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

They also got £10m in Bellingham sell-on money.

And apparently around a dozen big earners contracts finish next summer so a Brummie was telling me, so presumably will be able to really kick on then.

[mozo]

14 minutes ago, ralphindevon said:

I’ve only read a fraction of stuff on here so probably missed it but also heard nothing mentioned on radio Bristol driving home.

I thought Yeboah was a real live wire when he came on. Caused them a few problems. A definite plus from today.

Yes, Yeboah looks promising. I'd keep him in the mix!

[tin]

24 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

They also got £10m in Bellingham sell-on money.

True, but that still doesn’t come close to the £35m net profit we’ve taken this calendar year and yet we’ve reinvested a small fraction of that, compared to Brum.

[Mr Popodopolous]

15 minutes ago, ralphindevon said:

And apparently around a dozen big earners contracts finish next summer so a Brummie was telling me, so presumably will be able to really kick on then.

That can assist but Year 1 of that is still a £25m pre tax loss. I'm not certain on their figures but happy to look further..they've pound for pound spent a lot more than we have this summer relative to past losses.

Edited August 19, 2023 by Mr Popodopolous

[Mr Popodopolous]

6 minutes ago, tin said:

True, but that still doesn’t come close to the £35m net profit we’ve taken this calendar year and yet we’ve reinvested a small fraction of that, compared to Brum.

Oh very much so. Before Bellingham x 2 they had lost £25m before tax in each of 2021-22 and 2022-23, give or take. Our business we could do some more for even say two PL loanees and not even touch the sides FFP wise.

[Rocking Red Cyril]

9 hours ago, wendyredredrobin said:

Good point, though a cap solves that.

Or sun glasses or welding visor 

[Glenn jonrs]

We just had a bad day all teams have them it's part of the game and we will have a few more before the end of the season but we won't get relegated and we won't get promoted but we will finish in 8th place 

[Rocking Red Cyril]

9 hours ago, wendyredredrobin said:

Good point, though a cap solves that.

Or sun glasses or welding visor 

Not seen the post match presser from Nige yet ?

[Dr Balls]

52 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

They also got £10m in Bellingham sell-on money.

True. But they have still spent more than us (despite the money for Semenyo and Scott) plus they have cast their net for recruitment wider than League 1, which seems to be the only place we are looking to get players.

[Mr Popodopolous]

Just now, Dr Balls said:

True. But they have still spent more than us (despite the money for Semenyo and Scott) plus they have cast their net for recruitment wider than League 1, which seems to be the only place we are looking to get players.

More and as a ratio, percentage certainly even more so.

[Dr Balls]

Just now, Mr Popodopolous said:

More and as a ratio, percentage certainly even more so.

Yet I was under the impression that Birmingham were far more at risk of FFP than us.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, sh1t_ref_again said:

Got anyone with a spare 15 million to chuck away each year to take over?

If he is chucking 15m away a year, well its his investment from HIS sh1te choices thats got us to where we are today, you cant blame the managers/staff he has brought in and the players they have brought in; HIS MONEY HIS CLUB HIS MESS.

Will he be getting no pay back when he does sell up? sooner the better imo we are stale and lack ambition....sorry my opinion.

 

[Mr Popodopolous]

2 minutes ago, Dr Balls said:

Yet I was under the impression that Birmingham were far more at risk of FFP than us.

They are or have been.

[Mr Popodopolous]

2 minutes ago, wtf said:

If he is chucking 15m away a year, well its his investment from HIS sh1te choices thats got us to where we are today, you cant blame the managers/staff he has brought in and the players they have brought in; HIS MONEY HIS CLUB HIS MESS.

Will he be getting no pay back when he does sell up? sooner the better imo we are stale and lack ambition....sorry my opinion.

 

The plus side is every pound that SL converts to equity is one pound less that we need to repay him so that's good.

Whether it would be included as part of the asking price it remains to be seen, only SL knows that.

Edited August 19, 2023 by Mr Popodopolous

[Guest]

23 minutes ago, Glenn jonrs said:

We just had a bad day all teams have them it's part of the game and we will have a few more before the end of the season but we won't get relegated and we won't get promoted but we will finish in 8th place 

We have needed a proper goalscoring forward for ...well quite a while, there is always a reason why we dont/havent signed one like, we have no money, wait until the next window and see how we go; FF;, prem relegated teams are better; they have better managers; we are building etc, etc