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“Well Done Lee and Thank You….” - Notes for the Birmingham City Game
Written by HarryfromBath on Thursday, 25th Apr 2013 10:30

HarryfromBath assesses the mood in the opposition camp ahead of Saturday's game by delving into their forums.

“...But my God have you dished up some rubbish at times this season”

“After a funny old season, Clark has us in the top ten with two games left. Wouldn’t have seen that four months ago”. “The first half of the season was a disaster, but Clark has turned things around”.

“Credit where credit is due. The very large hole that he and his squad have dug for themselves, they have managed to claw their way out of it”. “Just a shame we had an awful start to the season”. “Well done to Lee Clark for turning things around”.

“He is a good young manager who made lots of mistakes since he has been here, but has learned and got a team playing well”. “If some of his players had bought into his way from the word go, then maybe things would have been different. Some so called pros let him down massively”.

The Birmingham manager's transfers have generated criticism. “In the close season, he chose to sign Peter Lovenkrands, Darren Ambrose and Hayden Mullins all on very good wages for this division without conducting the correct checks on their recent performance levels. They have been major disappointments with PL and Ambrose looking completely finished, with Mullins not far behind”.

“Lee and his coaching staff have attended every non-first team game this season. He and his staff know the players inside-out, and more importantly the young ‘uns are maturing under his guidance. The passion he shows at the training ground is something to see”. “He has players who seem to want to play for him”.

“The Club is being Shafted by its Deceitful, Incompetent Owners”

“Leeds are going to throw the kitchen sink at us”. “Don’t worry. Pannu has it up for sale already”. The owners, BIHL, and acting chairman Peter Pannu are despised by Blues. “I have been struggling all day to keep Thatcher from my mind, and now you go and bring up Pannu! It’s too much!”

Blues feel that their club is being bled dry: “What on earth can Mr Pannu provide as consultancy worth £643k, when he is already a director on a salary of £430k per annum? Will we ever see him back in the UK supporting the Blues? I suspect not, but if he does, a warm reception awaits him.”

“I think we all agree that what Mr Yeung [the owner] and his cohorts have and are still doing with our club makes our blood boil”. “Let’s hope they don’t dump on Clark and sell our best players this summer”. “With the off-field rubbish Lee has had to put up with, he has done well”.

“Did I ever think I would say this, but I hope we go into administration, and I care not what division we’re in, but anything is better than having this lot here”. ”If they carry on milking, then we’ll probably go bust, and they’ll lose any sell on value. They’ve milked as much as they can get now, so the only option is to sell”.

“My Concern is all the Out of Contract Players and Next Season’s Starting Line-up”

”We are running out of fit players. The end of the season can’t come soon enough”. “It seems like at the end of the season, we’ll run out of masses more, as their contracts are up”. “We will have a significantly weaker playing squad, and will do well to avoid being in a relegation scrap”.

“My big worry now is us holding on to the nucleus of a team together for next season. The window is going to terrify me if we have to continue to sell players to finance the Chinese connection”.

Nineteen of the Blues squad are out of contract this summer and a further five return to their clubs having been on loan to City. This includes eight of Saturday’s starting line-up against Leeds, and five of the substitutes.

“We have sold virtually every player with a resale value. We are facing the daunting prospect of losing the majority of our squad in the summer with no money to replace them”.

The Tactical Overview in One Sentence

Blues believe that their team is at its best playing a fluid 4-5-1 system which they have used successfully away from home, but they are concerned about a lack of physical presence from their young emerging players.

“Contrast our Imperious Away Form and our Dismal Home Form”

“All our good performances have been away”. “4-5-1 suits us away from home when teams play a more attacking game against us. Lee seems to think he has to change it to 4-4-2 at home for a more attacking formation when he doesn’t need to”.

“Our improved form is everything about our manager being able to set up a team to hit on the counter-attack, and everything about him not being able to organise a team [at home] that needs to beat teams that sit back more”.

A switch to 4-5-1 in Saturday’s home game against Leeds was widely welcomed. “Five in the midfield played in the right way is far more attacking. You get players in the box. You create chances and your defensive shape is far stronger”. “That was the best I have seen any Blues team play for yonks and yonks”.

”When we attacked Leeds, 4-5-1 became 4-2-3-1 with four advanced players. We had Zigic up top, Ferguson, Redmond on the wings and Morrison coming from deep around the edges of the box. That’s what I call attacking, even if it does include just one recognised striker in the starting line-up”.

Playing on the Deck

“The last few games have refuted the allegation that Clark subscribes to Hoof It magazine. Some of the football we have played recently has been easy on the eye”. “We are much better with the ball on the ground. It’s a cop-out lobbing it up to Zigic, and is a desperate tactic”.

“The fluid movement for the first goal against Leicester was crucially made by passing to team-mates under pressure, and trusting their ability to use it. Earlier in the season, we wouldn’t play passes to attackers with defenders in such close attendance. The team didn’t look as if they trusted each other not to lose the ball”.

The younger squad players have embraced Lee Clark’s passing style and they bring energy and dynamism to the team’s play. However, they also lack the physicality which is necessary for this division. The manager has been striving to get this balance right in his selections.

Defence

“Still can never be too sure with Blues these days if they’ll be solid in defence”. “We could do with cutting out the silly errors at the back”. “We are too easily outmuscled in vital areas”. Simple errors by young inexperienced players are a concern for Birmingham supporters.

“Jack Butland does the easy things badly and the hard things brilliantly”. The goalkeeper, now on loan from new club Stoke, is “too easily muscled out in crowded penalty areas”. “He has been struggling with crosses quite a bit. He seems to get muscled out of it”.

‘Butland is pleased with his career so far’. This press headline was met with sarcasm. “Pleased? He’s let in sixty goals this season and he’s pleased?”. “Butland is getting on my wick a bit. Too much parrying the ball and dropping it”. “Butland nearly cost us dear with his annoying technique which is like flapping but without wings”.

“Right-back Paul Caddis always looks dangerous going forward”. The 25-year-old, on loan from Swindon “was a bit useless” against Leicester “being caught out of position several times”.

“Robinson makes very good tackles, but can make several reckless ones as well”. Thirty-four-year-old former Bolton centre-back Paul Robinson was “outstanding” in recent games, with his tackling most praised.

“The reason for the improvement is that Robinson is now playing in the centre with Davies”. “Davies missed several headers”. Former Villa centre-back Curtis Davies “has been a rock this season. He has led from the back and produced some outstanding performances”.

“Hancox is a real battler”. Nineteen-year-old youth product Mitch Hancox has played at left-back. “He was superb/outstanding. He looks every inch a footballer, with guts determination and a brain”. However, he “is capable of suicidal passes”.

Midfield

”We pass the ball around quite well without being threatening”. “Our midfield is too lightweight for 4-4-2. We can’t cope. We need the extra man in midfield”. “We get muscled out of victory. I am afraid that is the downside of playing young players of limited physical stature”.

“I wish we had a solid strong holding midfield player who would shield our back four. Our biggest struggles this season have stemmed from no midfield protection leaving the defence wide open. Hopefully we can bring a solid player in for that position as Mullins or Gomis are not the men for that role”.

Former Pompey and Hammers veteran Hayden Mullins, and Senegalese international Morgano Gomis are seen as weak links in the Blues midfield. “Another loose ball by Gomis – he must sort himself out”. “Gomis gives the ball away all the time”. “He’s so mistake ridden that he could easily play us into trouble”.

“I watched Mullins let a midfielder ghost past him on no less than five occasions today [against Leeds]”. “The only time Mullins was noticeable was when he gave the ball away”. “His performances have been woeful in every way imaginable”. “He has improved recently to achieve a sort of mediocrity”.

“Lauren and Hardy, Morecambe and Wise, and now Ambrose and Mullins – the list of great comedy duos is extended”. “Darren Ambrose’s lack of pace and general play have been dire”. The former ITFC and Palace midfielder “has been continually on the left, when he should be off the lone striker”. “He has been slow and didn’t look anywhere near fit. He showed why he hasn’t figured”.

“A bundle of tricks, but who can fade out of games”. Nineteen-year-old youth product Nathan Redmond has been a success on the right. “Nathan. That lad is going to be a superstar”. “He is the player that makes us tick in midfield”. “He has the confidence to have a go at the full back and commit players”.

“He makes useful runs down the side with Hancox”. Apart from this remark, there has been little comment about Northern Irish international Shane Ferguson, the left winger on loan from Newcastle.

Wade Elliott, the 34-year-old Burnley veteran is “an unsung hero. What a season he has had”. “Some delightful passes, but he also gave the ball away too much. He did some good runs off the ball, but often did not get the ball passed to him”. “He can hold a ball, but his distribution is wayward”.

“I’m not convinced by Elliott as the deepest of the central midfielders. He never seemed able to cover Leicester’s forward runners. This led to a lot of the problems [centre-backs] Robinson and Davies were faced with”.

“Callum Reilly should start as we need some steel in midfield to compete”. The 19-year old Irish youth international and academy product is highly rated. “I would really want to steel up that midfield, so Reilly should start with Morison”. His inexperience is sometimes criticised: “Poor passing, tackling and spatial awareness”.

“I fecking love him!”. “Ravel Morison is not a ball winner, and lacks a little pace. “When Ravel decides to get into the game, he is very skilful and a smashing player to watch”.

The Hammers loanee “is a frustrating one. Ravel can do some neat things, but then he’ll over-run a ball or just gift possession away!”. “He’s lightweight and tries to be too clever with his flick passes”.

Strikers

”Millwall put two players on Nikola Zigic every time and jostled him, winning headers. There was no shirt pulling, but virtually every time he went to jump, one of the players had a hand on his shoulder to prevent him jumping. It has been some time since Zigic lost so many heading duels”.

There was much talk about the six foot seven inch tall Serbian international. “Ziggy had another of his do f*** all and get on everyone’s tits with his crap ball control, sh*t footballing brain and he then pops up and scores. Love him or hate him, he always does it”.

“Marlon King is by far our best and most consistent as well as leading goalscorer. Who would consider leaving out their top striker in order to get more points? He scores goals, Marlon, he scores goals”. The former Watford striker has been sacrificed when playing five in midfield, to the annoyance of a number of Blues.

“Pace, Peter Loadsapants is totally off it”. Some Blues think that the Danish international Peter Lovenkrands ”just hasn’t has enough games”. Bournemouth loanee Wes Thomas “battles to get his shots off, frequently chases back and puts in great tackles. His work rate is very impressive”.

Birmingham Fans' Views on ITFC and the Game

“They’re late”. “The bastards are up to something”. Many of you will remember the quiet map room scene at the end of the film The Battle of Britain with not an airplane to be seen on the map. There has not been a single comment about the game or ITFC on any forum thread at the time of penning this on Thursday morning.

I think that City supporters see the game as something which has proved very elusive this season - a rare mid-table end of season kickabout. I will provide an update on Saturday morning with what feedback I can find.

A Particular View on Aston Villa

“This is the difference between Blues fans and Vilers. If we were in as deep in the sh*t as the Vile are, there’s no way our fans would be so cocky and arrogant about our team's prospects. That’s why they need to go down - to give these poor deluded f*ckers a cold dose of reality”.

“They’ll still be convinced they’ll survive because of all those trophies won when Victoria was Queen means they are such a massive club according to their deluded f*ckwit fans”. Discussions are being held about travelling to Wigan to support the home team in their relegation play-off against Aston Villa on the last day of the Premiership Season.

Websites

There are four websites for Birmingham City supporters. You have to register for three of them to access their forums, presumably to screen out rival supporters. birminghamforum.co.uk and bcfcforum.co.uk are the largest and very polite and footymad.net was quite useful. The biggest site with open access is smallheathalliance.com.




Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.

TennesseeBlue added 13:45 - Apr 25
Another great report, thanks Harry !
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DanLyles added 13:53 - Apr 25
So their midfield lacks bite and strength but is high on creativity. Sounds like the polar opposite of ours! Will we bully them on Saturday or will they outplay us I wonder? Two teams set up to counter attack, will probably be another draw, confirming safety :)

I remember reading about N'Daw on brum websites after we had signed him at the beginning of the season and the general consensus was that he couldn't pass to save his life but his physical attributes gave them a presence in the engine room.
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alfromcol added 14:04 - Apr 25
Thanks Harry an interesting read as ever.
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Tractorog added 14:12 - Apr 25
Thanks Harry it is the high light of my working day reading your reviews ... on my lunch break of course ;-)
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Edmunds5 added 15:17 - Apr 25
Cheers again Harry good read, and I'm surprised to see a large extent of realism amongst their fans. Not an easy job for Clark, Hughton did a decent job and Clark hasn't had a great deal of financial backing and has relied on loan signings and as we know that doesn't always work out. Alot will depend on how Smith and Chambo handle Zigic, if Zigic wins too many balls others can get around him so we can't let him get his own way. As for us I see no reason why we cannot win this one, we should be on confidence and our home record bar Hull, has been very good of late and Nouble particularly has been in decent form for a few games lately. I can see Birmingham scoring but I think we will nick it 2-1.
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Marshalls_Mullet added 15:26 - Apr 25
The Brum lot are dim if they think they will get into the DW Stadium home section.

Wigan will make it an all ticket match, with people needing to go through a season ticket holder to get tickets, or to have been to previous matches.

Great work though Harry, I always look forward to this blog. Maybe it should be moved to become a main feature.
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HarryfromBath added 15:42 - Apr 25
Thanks everyone for chipping in with comments, and especially for the kind feedback. It is greatly appreciated.

Marshalls Mullet, I agree that they will struggle to get in to the DW stadium. A friend of mine was prevented from getting tickets to a Spurs game, because he had applied for tickets for the same game the previous year, and they therefore decided that he was a Spurs fan.

Edmunds5, I would hope that Tommy and Chambo will handle Zigic. Mick will prep them up well for this. Dealing with their breaking midfielders will be fascinating. Everying suggests that they are a less proven version of Hull's midfield, and we handled them well recently, despite the result.

I agree with you, Dan, but I would hope that we can get a draw out of the game at the very least. It has been a good number of games since any team has imposed their style of play on us. If their midfield is not protective enough, Hyam or Wordsworth could cause them a bit of trouble. We will need to be patient.
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Marshalls_Mullet added 15:53 - Apr 25
Harry - I live in Manchester, a mate and I decided on a whim to go and see Wigan v Newcastle. We were turned away.

Lukcily I found a friendly Wigan season ticket holder who bought two tickets on our behalf.
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HarryfromBath added 17:19 - Apr 25
Marshall's Mullet, it is amazing that Wigan take such a narrow view, especially as their stadium is half empty for most games.

Nobody really hates Wigan. They are in no mans land. The teams up around Preston (I lived there for three years) and the East Lancs Valley hate each other. Likewise, the Manchester and Liverpool teams like to knock lumps out of each other.
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carsey added 21:32 - Apr 25
I would just like to second Marshalls Mullet and say HarryfromBath should certainly have his "Notes........" articles on the main page. He is clearly dedicated and does a cracking job putting them together. Perhaps he should be paid a retainer Phil?
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TonythePony added 21:42 - Apr 25
Great report Harry. Comprehensive and insightful as always. Keep up the good work. I hope MM and TC read them as it would make their jobs a lot easier.
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JCBLUE added 23:33 - Apr 25
A fabulous weekly read, I can well imagine MM checking out Harry's report before his team talk! Come on Phil, put these on the main page where they deserve to be.

Thanks again Harry.
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pazelle added 18:04 - Apr 26
Cheers Harry, sounds like Hewitt will be tested and hopefully N'Daw could dominate the midfield against his old team.

COYB!
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HarryfromBath added 21:14 - Apr 26
Thanks for the kind compliments. They are really appreciated.

The comments about Mick and Terry's analysis are kind and interesting. I have a feeling that we would all be dumbstruck by the amount of data which managers have and use these days on their opponents, with the money involved in the game these days.

Ideally, the notes are an extension of the notion of having a friend who supports the opposition, and who gives you the low down on them. It is infinitely more enjoyable watching a game when you have a handle on how the opposition are doing. You know what to look out for.

Pazelle, I totally agree about Hewitt. He will need all the experience Edwards can give him, as it could get lively on our right. We mustn't overdo our pressing, and allow them to counter-attack. Hyam could benefit if N'Daw can throw his weight around in the centre. It is a well poised game.
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