Town boss Paul Lambert believes there is too much football played over the Christmas period in England and says he was a fan of the winter break during his time playing in Germany.
The Blues are in action at Portsmouth on Saturday, then at home to Gillingham on Boxing Day, at Lincoln on Sunday 29th December and then away against Wycombe on New Year’s Day, four League One matches in 12 days with a trip to Exeter in the Leasing.com Trophy following on Saturday 4th January.
"The games come thick and fast and the travelling comes thick and fast,” Lambert said. "And you’re asking fans to fork out a lot of money and I think that’s the unfair thing, and I think the quality dips.
"People can say ‘It’s a poor game’, well no wonder, you’re asking people to go week in, week out all the time and it’s tough going.”
Given the number of games, does Lambert expect to have to utilise the full extent of his squad over the course of the festive fixtures? "It depends who is injured and who’s carrying knocks. We’ve got to watch guys so we wait and see who’s going to be fit and who’s not, or who gets a red card, nobody knows.”
Lambert says he was a fan of the winter break during his time as a player with Borussia Dortmund between 1996 and 1997.
"When I played in Germany I loved the winter break, absolutely loved it,” he said. "It was great for everybody, great for the fans.
"I always think when you have too many games the quality goes down and you’re asking fans to fork out money after money after money, and I think that’s wrong, I think it’s unfair.
"Spain has a break, Italy have a break, Germany have a break and I even think Scotland are doing it this year, so England must be the only one of the big countries to carry on through.
"I’m not a great fan of [playing over Christmas] because I know the benefit of [a break] if you carry knocks or have injuries, I think it’s good when you have the break.
"Germany was great because you could go anywhere you wanted, you could go to Italy on holiday, you could go to Spain or anywhere.
"I loved it. I came back in really good condition and a few months later you win the Champions League.”
Although the Premier League has instigated a 10-day break starting from February 2020, that doesn’t apply to the EFL.
Reflecting further, he added: "I think it’s up to the individual. You asked me personally and I liked the break, especially when I was over in Germany, I really enjoyed my time there.”
Managers don’t get much time off over the holiday period, but Lambert says that’s something he’s used to and he’ll be able to kick back and relax once his career is over.
"That’s been my life,” he said. "When it does happen and I do stop I’m looking forward to it.
"I don’t know how long that will be, but when I do eventually stop I’ll look forward to sitting back with no stress, not talking to you guys [the media], looking from afar somewhere.
"When it’s time to say it’s enough, because I’ve done this now since 1985 as a footballer and then a manager from 2005, so it’s a helluva long time to be in football.
"I made my debut when I was 15 and I’ve never really been out of it for that long, so it’s just been continuous pressure, pressure, pressure, success, success, success or failure, it’s been like that. Thankfully I’ve had more highs than lows.”