In the 13th of a series of pre-season reports, HarryfromBath assesses progress over at St Andrew’s this summer under Gary Rowett by delving into their forums. Reports on Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brighton and Hove Albion will be on the site later today with the rest of the teams in the division covered between now and the start of the season.
"Are we ready?”, "No, not by a long shot”, "Talk about standing still”, "Last season petered out and it looks like nothing has changed”, "Our squad really is looking poor, and we have been overtaken by the likes of Leeds United, Huddersfield Town and Bristol City”, "How about buying some players?”
Bluenoses are feeling underwhelmed with a lack of development in their squad, especially after they finished last season with just one win in their last 12 league games. "The club is stagnant and going nowhere for a good while yet. Poor ownership has hurt this club and it’s not changing soon.”
"I feel slightly cheated and disappointed at the apparent disorganisation at the club this summer. It doesn’t mean that Rowett is a bad manager or that I don’t support him, but he should have done better in the market”, "I am very happy with Gary, but I just hope he gets support from the owners.”
"That’s it then. Carson Yeung is no longer a name to be used on here. A major chain that has been around our necks has now been severed.” With the former owner’s final appeal against a money-laundering conviction dismissed in Hong Kong last month, fans hope their club can now move on.
"Gary is the best manager this club could possibly have at the moment”, "He took over a squad that Lee Clark tried his very hardest to turn into a shambling mess, certainly tactically. We looked utterly doomed and then Rowett changed all that. He made us solid, he gave us purpose and direction.”
In a recent poll 71 percent of fans said they would rather keep Rowett than welcome back former manager Steve Bruce. "Gary gave us great individual spells of form where we went on promising runs and played good football, making changes to keep us on track when we would get sussed out.”
"The problem is one of funding. Unlike [former manager] Chris Hughton, Rowett has a very shallow squad. We have few options to change things when players become weary or injured, and he will always be working with one hand tied behind his back until we have a proper war chest.”
"He sets teams up not to lose.” A minority have criticised of the former Burton manager’s tactics, but most fans respect the progress he has made. "There is exciting counter-attacking football and turgid counter-attacking football. At our best, we were countering last year with the best of them.”
"Our main problem is scoring goals. Our tactics are poor, our midfield doesn’t get up and support the likes of Clayton Donaldson and we also have poor wingers who don’t cross the ball enough. It doesn’t matter who you stick up top, they will struggle to score because of how we are set up.”
"Playing 4-5-1 with midfielders sitting back in form of defence is where our problems lie. They don’t push up and support the forwards. They don’t push up and support the forwards, something which would be entertaining to watch and which would result in goals.”
"Oh for a pacey winger and a striker”, "Our finishing is going to cost us. We don’t have anyone who can finish. We are so lacklustre in front of goal and all our attempts look powderpuff”, "I’m sorry but we are going to struggle if we don’t get a decent striker in”, "This is not exactly something new.”
"We are massively short in key positions. For instance, the search for a striker has distracted us all from the fact that we have one limited left-back at the whole club”, "Gary needs to pull something out of the bag again as we are looking staid”, "Oh for a left-back, a pacey left winger and a striker.”
Two players who were at St Andrew’s on loan last season have signed permanently, 27-year-old former Derby defender Ryan Shotton and James Vaughan, 27, who previously was with the Terriers. Midfielder Robert Tesche is the only new face, the 29-year-old arriving from Nottingham Forest.
Midfielder Mark Duffy has moved to Sheffield United and forward Denny Johnstone departed this summer for Colchester. One player who has been missed in pre-season is last season’s loan signing Jon Toral, the midfielder having been loaned by parent club Arsenal to La Liga side Granada for the coming campaign.
"I know it’s only a pre-season game but I saw nothing that says we have moved on”, "It was like watching last season’s team, which won’t please many. We didn’t know what to do in the final third and when we did, we were pretty poor”, "Poor finishing was the only reason we weren’t a goal up.”
"We created plenty of chances but couldn’t stick them away.” The starting XI (above) for Saturday’s friendly against Dutch side Roda JC was made up of players who were at St Andrew’s last season. They dominated a scoreless encounter, but this did little to quell fears about the lack of firepower.
To give an idea of the alternative players used in pre-season, the starting XI (above) in an earlier 2-0 win over Port Vale included most other choices which Rowett has at his disposal. Midfielder Maikel Kieftenbeld has missed much of pre-season with a thigh injury but is expected to feature soon.
"A ratty so-and-so”, "I really like the look of Jack Storer. I would have him on the bench ahead of Vaughan without hesitation.”, "He needs to tone his temper down without losing that edge. Strikers who don’t worry about fancy stuff but want to bust the net should always have a place in the game.”
Several younger players, including 18-year-old striker Storer, impressed fans in pre-season. Another praised for his positive intent was 20-year-old midfielder Reece Brown. "He put us on the front foot when he has come on”, "The only one to get the ball forward and play in behind the opposition.”
"Most Bluenoses expect a mid-table finish”, "The team did much better than most people predicted last season. I’m hoping they do so again”, "We will do well to stand still and repeat the feats of our first two years, considering the amount money coming into the Championship this season.”
"I fear we are more likely for a bottom 10 battle. The team seems to be carrying its form from the end of last season into this pre-season. I am worried they could roll it into the new season. We were properly in relegation form for the last third of that season and the division will be a lot tougher.”
The widest consensus is that this will be a season of consolidation. "We will be in the mix with the mid-table clubs”, "Part of me really believes in what Rowett is doing and given two or three quality signings I’d be optimistic of being in a play-off chase once again and sticking the course this time.”
The busiest Birmingham City message board with open access is the lively
Small Heath Alliance, which also carries links to local media stories about the Bluenoses.
Another very informative forum with good discussions is Birmingham City’s Official Messageaboard, although registration is needed to access some parts of the site.