Going Backwards...

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Bris Red said:

The bed wetters will always be out in force proclaiming a relegation battle is on the cards after a loss.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly not happy with 0 shots on target at home. But as others have said it is still so early in the season, players to still come back and still time in the transfer window.

I can personally see us signing at least a couple more players before the window shuts.

but will at least one be a goalscoring talisman? or are we pinning our hopes on Conway returning sometime before another transfer window opens and we then widen our hopes to that window.

Theres always time but its what we do with it that matters, we didnt get a look in v Brum and at home

 

[Floatn Over]

Yes, it’s far too early for complete doom and gloom despair, Boro have one point so it could be worse.

I’d just like to see the drive and clear ambition shown by Birmingham as a club evident from the back row of their supporters to the players on the field.

It made sense to do our shopping before selling AS as selling clubs did not view us as a cash machine but our plan now seems to be  wait until all our injuries are back and fully fit then play well for half a season to finish 15th then rinse and repeat.

Also just suppose we get offers in for ZV and/or SB before the window closes, as is speculated in some media quarters, will they be fended off or will we get the usual “it makes financial sense” & “can’t stand in a player’s way” “but don’t expect reinvestment people”

Not ITK of course but I get the impression Nige is unhappy about circumstances surrounding the loss of AS (noticeably seated for much of yesterday as opposed to patrolling the technical area) How much of the reported £25M have we actually had, large transfers these days are always spread out but it would be interesting to see the payments schedule.

Spending big is out of the question of course but surely a couple of mildly ambitious signings could generate more of an immediate impact and stop paper darts being thrown out of growing indifference (no criticism but it looked a bit silly).  No paper darts from the Brum fans I noted.

[TV Tom]

1 hour ago, wtf said:

you mean the man who SL brought here, or maybe he brought himself here? a Yes..sterday man imo

I've certainly not been Pearson's biggest fan from day one but i accept that i'm very much in the minority on this forum so maybe it's me that's wrong !!! 

Either way, right or wrong SL has stuck with him and is giving him plenty of time for which he deserves some credit

[Bristol Oil Services]

15 hours ago, Scrumpys Dietary Advisor.. said:

Literally, as well as figuratively...

 

 

 

 

 

After 3 games last season, we literally had 1 point.

[REDOXO]

8 hours ago, WessexPest said:

Strikes me as deja vu from Eliasson, Dave - a player with undoubted ability but who we seem to have no clue how to utilise effectively. 

I agree fella. I think the difference is Elliason was consistently not played and sacrificed on the alter of LJs tombola team selection policy.  When Elliason got on he typically did not well and chipped in with goals. 
 

Mehmeti looks terrified of getting the ball particularly if there is no space behind and he’s not moving. 
 

I think passing around players to get someone in, is not him, he’s desperate to do something clever. 

[Sheltons Army]

3 games in , one win , one draw , one loss

Missing our two most influential players IMHO , from last season

 

Some of our fan base is hilarious

People suggesting Vyner and Pring may not be ‘up to it’

For the last 6 months people have been panicking about contracts , and them being poached

 

Knee Jerk doesn’t touch it

[Scrumpys Dietary Advisor..]

2 hours ago, Bristol Oil Services said:

After 3 games last season, we literally had 1 point.

As in, the ball...

[italian dave]

2 hours ago, Bristol Oil Services said:

After 3 games last season, we literally had 1 point.

But had already managed to score more goals than we’ve managed shots on target this season! And two of those were away from home. 

[LondonBristolian]

11 hours ago, italian dave said:

Out of interest, who are your bottom three this season?

We (mates I go with) were discussing this before the Preston game and by half time we all felt we might be watching two of them

Not entirely serious, of course, this early on, but I didn’t see much to change that view today. 

Top of my head, I'd say QPR, Rotherham, Cardiff, Huddersfield are the ones with the most to worry about. Sheffield Wednesday were tipped my many and have started poorly.

Worth bearing in mind that Birmingham have started with seven from 9 and Preston have won against everyone except us in their first three so we're not doing badly against teams that are doing brilliantly against everyone else.

I think the game at Millwall showed exactly why we won't go down this season but I think it also indicated the problem. At the moment, I feel Pearson has worked out a system that will work pretty well when we are away against equal or better teams but I don't think we've got a system that will work at home against teams that are equal or a bit worse than us. We can't break teams down and, when the onus is on us to create, we start to leave gaps at the back. It's frustrating (and makes me glad that I get to more away games than home games) but it isn't enough to make me think we're either worse than last season or in any genuine danger of going down. 

[Bristol Oil Services]

11 minutes ago, italian dave said:

But had already managed to score more goals than we’ve managed shots on target this season! And two of those were away from home. 

I know, I saw that. I was just having a bit of a play with the word "literal." We also let in 6 in the first 3 games compared to 3 this time thus far.

There is a sense that creatively we have stalled at best, whilst being 3 points better off though. Preston scored 4 goals in their first 12 games last season mind, and finished above us.

We can go around and around with this but after 3 games this season we are 3 points nearer to staying up than we were last season after 3 games. Quite literally 

[italian dave]

18 minutes ago, Bristol Oil Services said:

I know, I saw that. I was just having a bit of a play with the word "literal." We also let in 6 in the first 3 games compared to 3 this time thus far.

There is a sense that creatively we have stalled at best, whilst being 3 points better off though. Preston scored 4 goals in their first 12 games last season mind, and finished above us.

We can go around and around with this but after 3 games this season we are 3 points nearer to staying up than we were last season after 3 games. Quite literally 

Yes, point taken, and I was being a little bit facetious with my comment! And in the same vein, yes, Preston only scored 4 but if I remember right they barley conceded one during that time!

And whilst I also take your point about only 3 games in, we may have taken only a point last season, but there was still a degree of positivity. We’d essentially lost to some terrible refereeing at Hull, played well in a cracking home game v Sunderland, and were certainly not flattered by the draw at Wigan. I can’t say I feel as positively right now.

And last year we were about to embark of two very winnable home games (and we did win them!) whereas this year we have trips to Hull and Swansea coming up. I hope @LondonBristolian is right! 

Edited August 20, 2023 by italian dave

[italian dave]

33 minutes ago, LondonBristolian said:

Top of my head, I'd say QPR, Rotherham, Cardiff, Huddersfield are the ones with the most to worry about. Sheffield Wednesday were tipped my many and have started poorly.

Worth bearing in mind that Birmingham have started with seven from 9 and Preston have won against everyone except us in their first three so we're not doing badly against teams that are doing brilliantly against everyone else.

I think the game at Millwall showed exactly why we won't go down this season but I think it also indicated the problem. At the moment, I feel Pearson has worked out a system that will work pretty well when we are away against equal or better teams but I don't think we've got a system that will work at home against teams that are equal or a bit worse than us. We can't break teams down and, when the onus is on us to create, we start to leave gaps at the back. It's frustrating (and makes me glad that I get to more away games than home games) but it isn't enough to make me think we're either worse than last season or in any genuine danger of going down. 

I think (hope!) you’re right! Shades of long spells under LJ then - funnily enough not the first such parallel I’ve seen on here recently. What would worry me a little is that I don’t see a Diedhiou who I always felt was such an important part of those snatched 1-0 wins.

But you’re right in the sense that those tend to be wins and points that, by their nature, you just don’t anticipate. I hope you’re right, but I also had hoped that this season would be about something better than last season.