Blues Trust
Birmingham City Supporters Trust - An Independent Voice
Blues Trust
Birmingham City Supporters Trust - An Independent Voice
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Blues Trust
Birmingham City Supporters Trust - An Independent Voice
Glory Days. Not!
Saturday morning started well but the day ended at 5pm in sheer frustration and bewilderment. My car radio blurted out Glory Days by Bruce Springsteen earlier in the day, and the omens felt good. And especially so when our opponents went down to ten men with eighty minutes still to play. But we know the rest so enough said.
Why oh why do we keep being dragged back into the boneyards of the Championship table when we allow opportunities like Wigan at home to go begging? We have witnessed it for ten full years now, and stepping back into below mediocrity has already begun. And the season is only three weeks old for goodness sake!
Rotherham away next and heaven knows what will happen, unless of course the days leading up to Saturday create a wave of optimism with either new arrivals in the shape of strikers, or new owners reassuring us battered followers that good times are around the corner. We need impetus and we need it quick. Pointless in delving into the needs of the team and equally useless pointing fingers at individuals as we already know what’s needed.
Cardiff was poor, Watford a bit improved and Wigan simply tepid. Three results deservedly pitching us towards the bottom of the barrel. John Eustace needs help we constantly hear, and nobody can argue with that. Equally, younger guns need older heads around them and, again, nobody would disagree. But it’s the overall mentality of winning, or rather the lack of it, that’s the key in my opinion. Problem is that the elders of the team haven’t enjoyed any winning mentality for years.
The current transfer window closes in a matter of days and if there is a chance of a fresh start, and one which means shipping out the elders, then the club should do it. Because relying on what we have will, I’m afraid, mean this being the season when we finally fail. We haven’t the cushion of last season, when other clubs were punished with the deduction of points for example, and survival in this league will not be secured by ageing so called strikers.
Perhaps the return of Graham and the introduction of Bielik will help, and maybe Gary Gardner will be a better choice in midfield. But overall we need matches that we can and should be winning. Wigan was a good example, but they are not alone in taking all the points away from St. Andrew’s. Past seasons have seen very similar patterns all too frequently, with visiting teams who would have been delighted at pinching a point getting on their team coach with all three!
We as supporters know what Eustace is up against, and we know the restrictions placed upon him in terms of finance. But even if he is lumbered with what he has after this transfer window closes, then my plea to him is to find out who within the squad has that mentality to win. Against ten men Wigan it was evident that the know-how wasn’t there when it should have been.
Newly promoted Rotherham, like Wigan, will be undaunted by our arrival on Saturday which should suit us as underdogs because, sadly, that is what what we now are. This is a crucial game for the club in many ways, as slipping into the bottom three so early in the season will be damaging and soul destroying. Two weeks ago I felt we were on a bit of a knife edge, with the then upcoming Cardiff, Watford and Wigan games likely to indicate whether we would survive or flounder. We now know, and the Glory Days have turned out anything but.
Mitchell Bray
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Agree,first of all Bowyer was a scapegoat and if we are in a dire position come Feb/March or sooner Eustace will be the next,at this rate we could even better the one sacking a year that currently stands.l was full of hope making the way to the Stadium on Saturday but saw the Team sheet and was aghast,Jukiewitz starting,come on,no pre season, 2 goals in 13 months,is this what we have come too.??? My expectations dropped immediately.l can only blame the Management for the problem in regards to the Striker situation,we get 5 loan players in,all Defenders or midfielders and not one Striker,surely with our goalscoring record of late you would have thought a Striker would have been a priority,so we are left with the fabulous Troy,Lucas,and Hogan to be used as required.In the words of Eustace though we will learn,learn what ???but how can you learn players like Ruddy,Colin,Roberts,Deeney,Gardner,Friend,Jukiewitz ??? if they don’t know how to play football now they never will.What the answer is l don’t honestly know.
I was feeling really optimistic about the Lopez/Richardson takeover. We’d started the season ok, and it felt like finally we maybe heading in the right direction. I understood the logic to the Woods transfer, and thought if that is followed up by getting a few more of the big wage hitters off the budget it will leave the club with a bit of wriggle room in the transfer market.
All talk of anyone coming in has dried up, no updates on where this proposed takeover actually is, no updates on the ground repairs, actually nothing at all. I was hoping the LR regime might bring us regular updates and a new era of communication with the fans, to date sadly it as you were.
The disappointment on Saturday was crushing, and made for yet another thoroughly miserable night. Here was a chance to make a bit of a statement, backing up a good effort against Watford with a win that would have put us comfortably into mid table and given us all encouragement that this season might see an improvement. But no, we simply couldn’t do it. No quality or tactical nous to break down Wigan. The might Wigan. The mighty 10 man Wigan!
Of course it is still very early in the season and there is plenty of time for things to pick up. But why should we expect that to happen without things changing at the club? The squad as it stands is simply not up to the job and certainly appears to lack the winning mentality that Mitchell identifies. No leadership. No invention. No pace. No hope. When will the nightmare end?
We have been crap 1 game Cardiff We have lost 2 games 1 nil We were not crap against Wigan we could not break them down On another day it could have been 3/4 -1 Their keeper and bad finishing cost us the game After 5 games it is not panic stations quite yet We will not be relegated Lots of bad teams in this division who are struggling to improve their squads 9 days left i am sure craig Gardner will come up with some new players If it’s like this come Jan then that is the time to panic not now. Kro
Ominous signs without panic stations is my take on all this. Struggling from early season is the norm and to be expected. We never move upwards and onwards so nothing will give us that buzz we so desperately yearn for. Only a new regime and a couple of good ‘uns up front will change the scenario. Wigan was predictable for me after 70 minutes. Never mind we have our hobby even though it doesn’t generally bring us happiness on Saturday nights.
Feeble performance today at Rotherham coupled with almost surrender really highlights this early season’s marker. Cannot recognise my team anymore. Hard to imagine any policy or objective.