Birmingham Fan Website Review of Game

[Jules 0]

    Hi, I''ve never posted here before though I''ve usually popped in at least once a day for the past couple of years just to read the posts.  Just so you know I''m an exiled fan living in Leicester who has to work on Saturdays, so I only ever get to see the Canaries away and usually at only Midlands clubs.  Been supporting the Canaries for decades - one of my earliest memories is of being introduced by my dad to John Bond and Kevin Keelan!  So I thought I might break my duck with the new PG era and all!  Any way, here''s the verdict of Singing the Blues on last night''s game!  Just goes to show that a week is a long time in football!!  "If you could pick a 90 minute

period to summarise the past couple of years under Steve Bruce, then

this was a fine example. Eleven Birmingham City players were picked in

eleven different positions. That was it. There was no system, pattern

to their play, indication of having worked on anything in training,

etc, etc. Blues did not have one spell, even for five minutes, in which

they bossed the game. Not once from a throw-in, corner, free-kick,

goal-kick, anything at all, could you see what we were trying to do.

There was no shape, no cohesion, nothing. There was nothing from Blues.

Absolutely nothing. This was by far their poorest performance of the

season - by a distance in fact. Blues were like an empty shell of a

team. Norwich, on the other hand, were a

team with probably less talent on paper (though in fairness, they do

still have some fair players) who were organised and knew the job they

were doing. They had a plan. They played to that plan. They got three

points. Job done for them. They played with a noticeable formation (the

4-5-1/4-3-3 one employed by a fair few teams) and with players knowing

their jobs - Darren Huckerby and Lee Croft both performed the wide

midfield/supporting strikers roles admirably, Dickson Etuhu got forward

from midfield superbly, Robert Earnshaw did a fine job (finishing

aside) as a lone-ish striker (though Huckerby, Croft and Etuhu all

supported him very well), and Youssef Safri anchored the midfield with

authority. YOU COULD SEE WHAT THEY WERE SET UP TO DO! It really was

that simple! They did it well, and there you go. As I say, job done.

Had Earnshaw finished as he has done for most of this season, and had

Maik Taylor not handled pretty well, this could comfortably been 4-0 or

5-0 to the visitors, and you couldn''t really begrudge them that, as

they came with a plan, stuck to it, did their jobs and got the result.

You can only say ''fair play'' to that."

CheersJules.

[mbncfc 1]

Thanks Jules, good post and I at least appreciate the insight... [B]

[a1canary 0]

Well that is nice to read! And interesting.

Because exactly the same that is said about Blues could have been said

about us in previous games/seasons. 11 individuals on a pitch all doing

their own thing. Sound familiar? I think it has everything to do with

confidence and that fear factor. The fact is, they have some real good

players but that doesn''t matter when there''s no confidence because

players shrink in to themselves and start playing for themselves and

not each other. It''s no coincidence that the one thing and probably

only thing that PG could do after just arriving is to try and get the

players to let go of that fear and to come out of themselves and play

for each other. It is that fear that has gripped us since we were

relegated and has a hold of Birmingham right now. Worthy couldn''t lift

it, and Steve Bruce can''t seem to right now and his credentials are

supposedly far greater than NWs. In the end, change for the sake of

change is often the only thing that will rid players of that fear. I

think it''s very promising that PG seems to appreciate all this.

[Marty 0]

cheers for that, I must say it sounds good for us, I can''t say i feel sorry for b''ham mind. It is really nice to hear that we had a system and played to it, very promissing, shame we can''t play b''ham every week.

[lucky green trainers 0]

[quote user="a1canary"]Well that is nice to read! And interesting.

Because exactly the same that is said about Blues could have been said

about us in previous games/seasons. 11 individuals on a pitch all doing

their own thing. Sound familiar? I think it has everything to do with

confidence and that fear factor. The fact is, they have some real good

players but that doesn''t matter when there''s no confidence because

players shrink in to themselves and start playing for themselves and

not each other. It''s no coincidence that the one thing and probably

only thing that PG could do after just arriving is to try and get the

players to let go of that fear and to come out of themselves and play

for each other. It is that fear that has gripped us since we were

relegated and has a hold of Birmingham right now. Worthy couldn''t lift

it, and Steve Bruce can''t seem to right now and his credentials are

supposedly far greater than NWs. In the end, change for the sake of

change is often the only thing that will rid players of that fear. I

think it''s very promising that PG seems to appreciate all this.

[/quote]as a worthy apologist until the end A1, its nice to see you appreciate that change is sometimes the only answer, and that probably brum will need to do a wba in order to turn the situation around at st. andrews - you seem to be advocating/accepting that bruce goes.worthy could quite easily bounce back with a new club and succeed, just as jones at cardiff and mcCarthy at wolves seem to be doing, despite being sacked in similar circumstances to worthy at wolves and sunderland respectively. i still believe worthy should have gone last autumn, but NCFC have had to endure a painful year since then. if PG turns out to be an inspirational choice, then maybe it''ll have been worth it.  if PG comes up short though, then surely the board''s judgment will come under serious scrutiny, which could ultimately see changes at that level also. i''m of the opinion that new blood/money should be invited onto the city board while we are in a relatively strong position to ensure we can keep our flair players - if hucks/earnie should go in jan/end of season, then obviously we''d be the poorer for it, and probably in decline.presently, i''m hopeful PG will get us into the top 6, if he manages top 2 then the last 18 months will all be forgotten/forgiven.

[DONT REMEMBER YOUR TENURE AS ENGLAND MANAGER 0]

[quote user="Jules"]    Hi, I''ve never posted here before though I''ve usually popped in at least once a day for the past couple of years just to read the posts.  Just so you know I''m an exiled fan living in Leicester who has to work on Saturdays, so I only ever get to see the Canaries away and usually at only Midlands clubs.  Been supporting the Canaries for decades - one of my earliest memories is of being introduced by my dad to John Bond and Kevin Keelan!  So I thought I might break my duck with the new PG era and all!  Any way, here''s the verdict of Singing the Blues on last night''s game!  Just goes to show that a week is a long time in football!! 

"If you could pick a 90 minute period to summarise the past couple of years under Steve Bruce, then this was a fine example. Eleven Birmingham City players were picked in eleven different positions. That was it. There was no system, pattern to their play, indication of having worked on anything in training, etc, etc. Blues did not have one spell, even for five minutes, in which they bossed the game. Not once from a throw-in, corner, free-kick, goal-kick, anything at all, could you see what we were trying to do. There was no shape, no cohesion, nothing. There was nothing from Blues. Absolutely nothing. This was by far their poorest performance of the season - by a distance in fact. Blues were like an empty shell of a team. Norwich, on the other hand, were a team with probably less talent on paper (though in fairness, they do still have some fair players) who were organised and knew the job they were doing. They had a plan. They played to that plan. They got three points. Job done for them. They played with a noticeable formation (the 4-5-1/4-3-3 one employed by a fair few teams) and with players knowing their jobs - Darren Huckerby and Lee Croft both performed the wide midfield/supporting strikers roles admirably, Dickson Etuhu got forward from midfield superbly, Robert Earnshaw did a fine job (finishing aside) as a lone-ish striker (though Huckerby, Croft and Etuhu all supported him very well), and Youssef Safri anchored the midfield with authority. YOU COULD SEE WHAT THEY WERE SET UP TO DO! It really was that simple! They did it well, and there you go. As I say, job done. Had Earnshaw finished as he has done for most of this season, and had Maik Taylor not handled pretty well, this could comfortably been 4-0 or 5-0 to the visitors, and you couldn''t really begrudge them that, as they came with a plan, stuck to it, did their jobs and got the result. You can only say ''fair play'' to that."


Cheers

Jules.
[/quote]

Hey Jules, hope you enjoyed the game last night, thanks for the post, really interesting to read and compare to our own recent woes. Cheers buddy. 

[Jules 0]

No probs. It''s nice to be contributing to the forum at last and it''s so nice to be celebrating an away win at last!!!! With our away record it''s been pretty miserable only being able to go to away games!

[Yellow fever 0]

[quote user="lucky green trainers"]



if PG comes up short though, then surely the board''s judgment will come under serious scrutiny, which could ultimately see changes at that level also.

[/quote]

you say -it not me

[GPB 0]

Thanks Jules. Very interesting. I think several times in the last few month we could have written the "couldn''t see what we were trying to do" story. Cant see Bruce lasting much longer.....

All the best.

[a1canary 0]

[quote user="lucky green trainers"][quote user="a1canary"]Well that is nice to read! And interesting.

Because exactly the same that is said about Blues could have been said

about us in previous games/seasons. 11 individuals on a pitch all doing

their own thing. Sound familiar? I think it has everything to do with

confidence and that fear factor. The fact is, they have some real good

players but that doesn''t matter when there''s no confidence because

players shrink in to themselves and start playing for themselves and

not each other. It''s no coincidence that the one thing and probably

only thing that PG could do after just arriving is to try and get the

players to let go of that fear and to come out of themselves and play

for each other. It is that fear that has gripped us since we were

relegated and has a hold of Birmingham right now. Worthy couldn''t lift

it, and Steve Bruce can''t seem to right now and his credentials are

supposedly far greater than NWs. In the end, change for the sake of

change is often the only thing that will rid players of that fear. I

think it''s very promising that PG seems to appreciate all this.

[/quote]as a worthy apologist until the end A1, its nice to

see you appreciate that change is sometimes the only answer, and that

probably brum will need to do a wba in order to turn the situation

around at st. andrews - you seem to be advocating/accepting that bruce

goes.worthy could quite easily bounce back with a new club and

succeed, just as jones at cardiff and mcCarthy at wolves seem to be

doing, despite being sacked in similar circumstances to worthy at

wolves and sunderland respectively. i still believe worthy

should have gone last autumn, but NCFC have had to endure a painful

year since then. if PG turns out to be an inspirational choice, then

maybe it''ll have been worth it.  if PG comes up short though, then

surely the board''s judgment will come under serious scrutiny, which

could ultimately see changes at that level also. i''m of the

opinion that new blood/money should be invited onto the city board

while we are in a relatively strong position to ensure we can keep our

flair players - if hucks/earnie should go in jan/end of season, then

obviously we''d be the poorer for it, and probably in decline.presently,

i''m hopeful PG will get us into the top 6, if he manages top 2 then the

last 18 months will all be forgotten/forgiven.

[/quote]

Worthy apologist til the end? Harsh! I think NW was unfairly treated

and it''s in my nature to defend people in such a position. If that''s

being an apologist, so be it. But I had appreciated that change, even

for the sake of change, was the only answer some time ago. I didn''t

like all the stick he was getting for being ''irish'' or for being

''tactically inept'' etc. The guy''s a professional football manager with

all the relevant badges - he has more tactical awareness than any fan.

And the fact is, that was his formation and his team out there against

Birningham. What Grant and his arrival (or NWs departure more

accurately) did, was free the players minds! They were stuck in a rut

and i appreciate NW had to go to get them out of it.

Being able to get players to play and to want to play for them is what

makes great managers as much as tactical nous. It''s an ability that few

have (Redknapp and O''Neill spring to mind) and it was that that NW

lacked more of in the end, not the tactical awareness. People say he

played players out of position but he never willingly did that - it was

only unavoidable circumstances that dictated it. Others will moan about

his signings but if Grant has some of that ability that Harry and MoN

has, no-one will be moaning about Colin, Etuhu, Robinson, Hughes

-  two of those have already turned round popular perception of

them among fans, there''s no reason why the others can''t do the same

with the right management.

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

NW stayed too long.....  SB has probably done the same at Birmingham, he probably should have been sacked christmas time last season in the premiership.  When he took over Birmingham were 9th, they are 9th again now...