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Negativity Monday
If a defeat to Yeovil Town on Saturday wasn’t depressing enough, reading this morning that Southampton may be bought out by China’s richest man Wang Jianlin really stuck the boot in. It really is a case of “look what you could have won” for Birmingham City as it was rumoured in Hong Kong only last year that Carson Yeung was trying to get Wang interested in buying Blues.
Forget about the results at St Andrews for a moment. For all the people blaming Lee Clark for his tactics or the players for an apparent lack of skill, the chief reason Blues are in the mire right now is because we cannot compete financially with teams in this league. Barring Nikola Zigic, Blues have the second lowest wage bill in the league (only Yeovil’s is lower) and you only have to look at how much Blues have suffered since the departures of loanees Dan Burn and Jesse Lingard to see how reliant the club is on being able to bring in players from other clubs to polish into diamonds.
What makes it worse is there no end in sight at this moment in time. Despite people saying Carson Yeung must sell it is more than apparent that he doesn’t want to and won’t be coerced into doing so. The board at Birmingham International Holdings have done everything they can to continually secure loan investment to keep the holding company ticking over without actually being able to bring any further investment into the club. Although it now looks like they might have the short term future sorted with an EGM planned and proposals in place that’s not necessarily good news for Birmingham City as it is more a case of kicking the debt can down the road than bringing in new money.
When Carson has looked for people to invest in the club he has looked to big hitters like the aforementioned Wang, Charles Chan of the Shanghai Media Entertainment Group and others of a similar ilk – people with serious amounts of money who would be able to pay Carson the money he wants for the club (HK$400million or approximately £32million) without quibbling. However these proposals never seem to have got further than initial enquiries for whatever reason and because of that the club has been left to stultify somewhat.
The only hope I have is that with the deed of novation passed, one of the main obstacles to the sale of the club vanishes. It’s my understanding that people who have looked at the club have been worried by that loan due to the lack of paperwork around it and due to the value of it being similar to the realistic value of the club. With that debt released the books look healthier and there is no need to seek warranties with regards to who that debt is owed to. However, with the Sun reporting this morning that Gianni Paladini is now looking at buying Millwall it might be that even that ship has sailed – although it’s my belief that Carson wouldn’t sell the club to Paladini if he could at all help it.
As fans, we’re kind of left helpless and frustrated. Whilst we can protest, we can shout and we can boycott in the short term it could potentially do nothing more than alienate and divide the support, demoralise the staff and the players and help drag the club down further. I’ve seen on twitter images of a flag that was displayed at St Andrews yesterday (unfortunately not on a game day) and I suspect that this might be the first of more such visual protests. The big issue with this sort of thing is that any visible protest needs to be seen by the press in HK – however, I can say that via my contacts in the Cantonese press if people have done something and want to make a name for themselves in the Far East if they can email me I will pass on details.
Tags: Carson Yeung, Negativity, Protest, Wang Jianlin
159 Responses to “Negativity Monday”
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I hope that when Zigic departs, his massive wages will go on bringing in at least 3-4 players in on smaller salaries. Is that too much to hope for?
Yes it is.
I understand the massive disappointment on Saturday but we have played worse than that and picked up points this season. The forthcoming games are a worry but we have to keep behind the team and hope that we can get some positive results.
I cant knock LC for his efforts but it would be nice to hear an explanation of the substitutes on Saturday, we got progressively worse during the second half.
Patrick Viera was there in his MCFC youth development role, I assume looking at Reece Brown.
I though Brown and Howard performed very well considering their recent addition to the team.
We desperately need some loan additions to the squad but I fear time is running out on that one.
Finally on the protest front, with the current low gates and general apathy I cant see any protest making its way the Chinese press or to Carson/Pannu with enough force to ruffle any feathers.
This is unhellpfull tallk this morning! We’ve a cup tie to support and wen
Need to be up for it,and show support,right from this morning.
COME ON BLUES AND LC! KRO!
when this is all resolved, its going to be very boring talking about just football again
Nothing is going to change, we’re stuck with them for the forseeable, so all we as fans can do is get right behind the team and the manager and stuff the owners.
comment edited
“it is what it is” was never more clearly demonstrated than on Saturday. I do not blame the players quality or lack of technique. We can only ask for 100% and generally speaking, the fans have seen that this year, (Zigic was an exception of this on Saturday). We do not possess quality players, we cannot get any others in and the only criticism of LC I would comment on, is his tinkering. However, saying that, his squad changes from month to month which leads to no stability, continuity or the team establishing itself. We can only hope for the financial constraints to be lifted and for us once again to be competitive in the transfer market. Until then, we have to cling on for dear life and stick together as best we can. KRO
On many levels It does raise the question , if Nicola Cortese can sell the idea to Wang Jianlin of purchasing Southampton for £175m , why PP & CY couldn’t sell him the dream of Birmingham City for £32m ?
Southampton might be worth £175mil. Blues ain’t worth £32mil.
Agreed Blues not worth £32m but it is very wide of the mark to value Southampton at £175m.
Lesson from history though , Southampton entered administration in April 2009 , phoenix can rise from the ashes…& offer loyal staff stable long term jobs after the event….
Southampton might be worth £175m (though I doubt it), and blues may be worth less than £32m (which I can believe), but the big difference is that they are as good as they will ever get, and as such there’s no investment value in Southampton. Whereas for blues, you could buy the ckub for £30m, spend another £10-20m on players and wages and then potentially get back into the premiership with all the wealth that accompanies. I don’t want to blather on about sleeping giants, but blues are still a potentially good investment opportunity in the right circumstances.
On an unrelated note, I’d be happy if zigic never played for blues again. Lazy, couldn’t be bothered and was clearly refusing to do what LC was asking him to do.
Southampton are losing money despite selling out every week and despite being in the top half of the Premier League. If they can’t make money in this situation they never will. Someone buying the club for £175m ought to set all sorts of alarm bells off.
…because the money washing round the Premiership is enormous and Southampton’s prospective owners can dream about swanning round the directors’ boxes at Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea.
Easy, because Saints are (like Fulham) a far bigger, more marketable, Premier League, club than Blues.
Don’t agree – Fulham’s saving grace is that they are a London based club – but they also seem to be in decline at the moment.
With regards to Staurday’s substitutions, let’s give Clark some credit here. Firstly Zigic was awful. You could clearly see Clark screaming at him to get into the box but he never did. Frustration basically told and he took him off. Now Reece Brown, for all those fans that booed and chanted ‘you dont know what your doing’ aimed at Clark, let’s not forget it was Clark that gave the kid his debut in the week against Bristol Rovers (full 90 minute) and stuck with him for Saturday. The kid had run himself into the ground, surely people can understand that!! So to me I would say Clark does now what he his doing. Very easy to get on his back, he his working miracles with what he has or hasnt got!! Boltn Wanderers could well be looking for a new manager soon. Clark’s stock is rising all the time so lets just appreciate the work he his doing and commend his dedication and commitment to the cause.
Clarks stock is rising? do me a favour Gary with each passing week hes demonstrating how not to be a football club manager.
Everything he does is suck it and see, no one else would ever employ him he is third rate, I agree he does not have a lot of options now but he did last season, he knackered that up too.
was there anything wrong with Will Packwood, i thought he had been recalled to fill the gap left by Burn? if he was fit he should have started on saturday. for all their efforts and good will in the world Robbo & Mullins centre halves they aint!
Spot on Gary
Gary – good post.
Tony – usual rubbish from you.
Spot on Agent McLeish
I can’t believe how bad Zigic was on Saturday. It was embarrassing to watch. On 60k a week, he should be breaking his neck to get hold of the ball. it was almost as if someone has surgically removed his ankles and was unable to jump!!!
The sooner he leaves, the better. I understand he presents a different dimension when it comes to arial threats, but he doesn’t even try and head the ball(which is all he can do).
NOVAK was excellent, and Reece Brown has something special, also the new singing Brian Howard showed some real quality and determination, so some positives to take from the game.
Zigic can do much more than head the ball as was shown by his through ball on tuesday. Yes he was poor on saturday but the service he received was also poor
Your wasting your time mate, all some people on here can see is £65k a week.
Yawn.
Novak was excellent. ha ha…. he was woeful, why did we become less effective when Novak was the main striker?
He did nothing apart from heading onto the bar when it was easier to score.
Agree the board situation is depressing.
This is reminding me of the Kumar days.
I completely agree. He created nothing from the left. He hasn’t got the pace or skill to get to the bye line and put in the kind of service Zigic needs. Every time Novak got the ball on the left he had to come back usually ending in it being punted upfield in the general direction of Zigic. The opposition know Burke is our only real provider and get two on him as soon as he gets the ball. I would just like LC to give Ferguson as few games in a row so we threaten down both flanks.
Good point, he looked good on Tuesday and gives us another option. Would also like to see Packwood given a chance at CB – he is after all the future, unlike Mullins. That’s not to say Mullins has been playing badly (apart from that horror show for the 1st goal), but if you’re going to blood Brown why not Packwood as well?
Reece B definitely has that something special. He has an awareness which cannot be taught. However, he wasn’t able to compete physically on Saturday. Personally I would have played him further up the pitch on sat but obviously then a decision would need to be made with Howard. Howard played well though and was actually one of the players trying to force the issue. Zigic was poor and got dominated by two cb that were good in the air. Packwood should have played because Robinson and Mullins could not compete in the air against their big man, Yeovil’s second goal proving that. Tactically Lee needed to take the risk with Packwood
IMO Lee Clark is doing everything possible to bring stability and motivation to the club.
I know how i would feel if half my staff left week after week after training them up…continually weakening our service.
Mistakes happen especially when asking players to do a job they are not trained or experienced to do…they need understanding and support instead of barracking.
Lee is not a Premier League manager…he is still learning his trade, and surpassing my expectations with what he has to work with on an everchanging basis.
The mess we find ourselves in is down to an owner who is distracted by personal issues and we are no longer his priority…bit like a house needing doing up….with no money…you do the bare basics and dont spend much…hoping it doesnt break down.
There will come a point where we will break down and cost him…..then he will offload….theres no point looking for any other scapegoat.
We supporters of Blues are known for passion and belief, lets get behind whatever team Lee can physically put out and drive them on to try their hearts out for our beloved club.
To be honest we can start again in the conference and I’ll still go.
The current situation is frustrating,hurting and criminal, but it wont last forever and when its over the relief and belief will come back…..weve just got to keep on till the end of the road.
KRO
History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Keep right on! our day will come.
The big difference for me was they had a striker who took the chances, maybe it’s time for Novak to be the 1 striker n ferguson play on the left, zigic needs a player alongside him he cant do it on his own,just for the record when did zigic last score a header? Seems amazing at his height and with a winger like Burke that he dont get more headed goals
First time comment.
I have read your site with interest for a while, its very informative and I appreciate the work you are doing keeping us all informed.
One of the things that strikes me is the lack of communication from HK, that’s what frustrates me the most, no idea when this saga will end, its not even liable to end when the Carson trial finishes from what I can make out, even the slightest bit of info helps.
Most of us older fans know that being a Bluenose is never a bed of roses, but as I said the not knowing is the worst.
On the playing side Clark has done a good job in my opinion, he has had to rip up the squad and start afresh, he’s up the creek without the canoe or a paddle!
I thought this was an interesting read for anyone who hasn’t seen it.
http://176.32.230.17/longlongroad.co.uk/live-football/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=live-football
Another excellent insight into the plight of BCFC.
As long as Carson Yeung is associated with BIHL and or BCFC we are never going find honest investment, surely that is like going into business with the great train robbers and hoping it is going to be clean and legal.
The only way investors will come forward is if they get complete control, the club is sold at a realistic price with all debts crystal clear as to who they are owed and how much.
I also believe that unless CY is found not guilty no one will touch either club or holding company with a barge pole and even then will be reluctant to have dealings with CY.
BIHL really need to stand up and be counted and either offer a vote on no confidence or buy his shares in the company, we also need the Football League to investigate CY and their “Fit and Proper” status again, though I doubt the latter will ever happen.
The flags look great but I think that the stewards will confiscate them as no sooner they are unfolded, may be a good idea for away games as other club stewards will not be up to speed with the connotations or implications, also why not have the wording that means “Delay No more” in Cantonese somewhere on the flag. Have smaller flags for cars too, I’d fly one.
KRO+DNM
Why did Wang buy Saints instead of Blues? Face. When you’re the richest guy in PRC and you’re at a cocktail party; someone asks you if you own any sporting clubs; you say ‘Oh Yes, I think I own a Premiership outfit in the south of England…..Southampton I recall.” A Championship club facing possible relegation just does not cut the Sichuan sauce. And Dan’s right – we ain’t worth 32 mill. 15 at best and by end of this season closer to 10. Sorry mates; it’s the truth
With debt we are worthless than that, I bet he will only pay 10m for Southampton the premiership club doing ok… not a championship club strugling to stay a float.. I feel sorry for clark…. I think he has done his best with what he had.. I even think that going forwards the experiance he gains from this will make him a great manager for a bigger club at some point.
Plus this Wang guy probably wouldn’t consider ANY proposal from Carson Yeung.
Am sure he is persona-non-grata in HK business circles and quite rightly.
If these guys are uber wealthy they probably wouldn’t consider anything out of the top flight.
Stinks more and more of portsmouth day by day
Not quite Portsmouth, but still dire. Yeung will not sell his comfort blanket whilst his legal shenanigans is still in progress. Whilst Blues survives administration, he’s a football club owner. Without Blues he’s just an ex-hairdresser. If he won’t sell at £20m, he ain’t gonna sell at 10.
As the song goes, ” That’s Just The Way It Is… Some Things Will Never Change.”
The big difference is Pompey fans have mostly stuck by the club. I stand to be corrected but I think their average gate is around 15k. If you consider their ground capacity is 2ok that is impressive when you remember that they’re in the fourth tier.
I prefer the “Happy Mondays” Dan, I don’t think “Negativity Monday” sounds as good
What business circles exactly has CY been mixing in as by his own admission he made all his money by being lucky at the tables , so that narrows it down to one business namely gambling ..
Add to that he was virtually unheard of in HK by anyone you talked to until he bought us and even now his trial is his only claim to fame.
So what’s my point? Well no one reputable is going to deal with him are they so I doubt very much he will be able sell the 24% of bcfc tomanyone and that is definitely a red herring for the HKSE to give the impression they can ge addiyionsl funds after re listing .
Eventually the money will run out and we will be free.
Honour is everything in Chinese ‘circles’ and business is no exception.
Carson Yeung is a chancer, clearly mixing with some H.K ‘scallys’ in the past.
NO reputable business man would touch him with a proverbial barge pole.
So the chouices are: an ‘associate’ or relative of Yeung .. no thanks !
OR someone like Paladini, if he hasn’t been put off by the ongoing debacle.
cheer up everyone its another happy monday, were still here, were still blues, were still skint,
were still inconsistent…..whats new!!!!……roll on swansea saturday because there struggling
also and staying ups there main priority so a semi shock is on the cards with what for them
will be a weakened team……come on get behind the blues….you should be use to it by now
after all this time. KRO.
We were decent on the floor against Yeovil, bossing possession and playing some nice stuff. It was just so obvious though that knocking it into the box just wasn’t going to work, their two centre halves had a field day in the air and their striker was twice the size compared to Robbo and Mullins, but what can we expect after all our most impressive loan signings have gone back or are injured. Very impressed with Howard and Brown in terms of their quality, I can’t recall Brown making one mistake and he skipped past some of these senior pros as if they wasn’t even there. It’s not all negative, Blues have some very decent young players within their ranks and as soon as Yeungs era comes to an end I think we will be a great prospect to buy. Let’s just hope it’s someone decent! KRO
What a stupid banner, hate Carson Yeung? Why? The Pannu situation needs sorting out but I can’t see why people hate Carson. Without his input we wouldn’t have had Wembley or Europe. And whats the manics got to do with it? I’m not in the least bothered about that Chinese guy at Southampton, I do believe though that Carson still feels he can pull a major chines backer into the club and that’s partly why he wont sell. What will be will be.
Would I swap Wembley and Europe for Southampton and the Premier League? No. Forget sugar daddies and concentrate on the job in hand, support the club, go to the games and wait and see
Paul,
Carson is the figure head of the club, the least he could do is communicate with the club and more importantly the fans. Is 10 minutes a month too much to ask to e-mail over to the club/website, this may stop people hating him and give us something of a view from his end/HK etc.
Who appointed Pannu, he took the plaudits for Wembley at the time so will inevitably be a target in these dark days!
ps.
Fear for the crowd saturday think may be a record low for 4th round
Paul,
That’s right and keep rolling over while these clowns continue to destroy the club.
I think this a first, but I actually agree with you…… We have to be carefull what we wish for. You have to blame the day to day running of the club rather than the figure head. A decent football man would have had relegation clauses in contracts and to be fair to Zigic I’d stay and earn my £60k+ a week salary, its not his fault he was given that contract, true we could take him to trading standards as he is a better basketball player than a fottballer!!
Excuse me?
Pannu negotiated that deal. No one else.
I wonder if PP will be offering his services to Wang Jianlin?
Two thirds of possession, 24 shots on saturday, of which only 7 were on target? Against a club at the bottom of the division?
I’ve said it again and again, I believe the trio of Clark, McDermott and Fazackerly just aren’t up to it – I’m glad there’s money to spend if I’m honest, especially if some of the loan and free signings are anything to go by.
Perhaps we should be looking at raising the funds to pay off Zigic contract even if it is up at the end of season? And I see Palladini in sniffing round Milwall now?
So which wonder manager and backroom staff would you suggest? Come on, give us a laugh.
Who in their right mind would go into a job, have their hands and legs tied together and placed into a straight jacket, then told he has no money to spend now run the club.
I don’t believe LC was given the whole story when he applied for the job.
LC and co are the best we can expect, frankly I don’t think LC has done too bad with his loans. He made some mistakes with Ambrose, Mullins and Lovenkrands, but he was naive then, he has matured and certainly improved. He still makes mistakes but who doesn’t.
Support the club and the team which includes the coaching staff too.
Who else is out there that would come to the club, more importantly who can we afford, we can’t afford players from lower leagues?
KRO+DNM
How about staff that were at the club before the clown Clark came to town? They continue to roll out talentated youngsters who can play football, would even be a cheaper option.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, however, we are talking about the present, we can’t afford to sack him so we can hope Blackpool still want him and pay the £3+million compensation, then who will we get…..?
Personally, after last season I think LC is doing a good job, especially as he has no money or bartering power.
No one with any intelligence would walk into Blues under the current ownership….
KRO+DNM
Now that our unbeaten run has ended along with the associated confidence it produced we are urgently and desperately in need at least 2 decent loan recruits to avoid a potential dire run of form developing over the next few weeks. We have struggled for goals at home in most matches and we are really struggling to field a defence of any real substance or experience due to injuries and the loss of Burn.
On a positive note there are a number of key events which will occur over the next 6 weeks which should be a catalyst for change one way or the other after almost 3 years of impasse. We must be getting nearer to a new chapter in the history of the club.
Blues’ current plight reminds me of its situation in the late ’80,s when our squad was paper thin and relied on youth players. Our youth team and under 21 development squad are indistinguishable from each other. Last week we couldn’t field a full strength under 18 team and 7 substitutes for the first team on the same night!
The difference between the late 80,s and now is that we were in the Premier League and won the Carling Cup only 3 years ago. So Blues fall from grace today is much more distressing than in Garry Pendrey and Dave Mackay’s days.
I honestly don’t think yeung would sell all of the club if somebody offered 32m ,hes like a 3 year old who don’t want to give up his dummy,the worrying thing for me I think he,d be happy owning blues even if we went into league 2 or lower ,the new owner would have to pay 32m or whatever he agreed to ,then we need to spend at least 10?15m to even get a side that’s championship standard because when all the loans go back what we left with??????
Beware anyone putting banners up in the ground security are just waiting for this to happen and they have been briefed by Asia rays on how to deal with anyone with banners bed sheets and the like. They will take them down quickly. Don’t fight back either these people don’t mess about
How do you know this then ? Do you work for the club ?
The instructions come from a high level at the club. I have been told this and there will be zero tolerance of any banners these people are not to be messed with and anyone with a banner will be banned and that security firm they use are very handy. If it starts just you see I would advise against banners within the ground be careful guys
I think they call it civil rights don’t they…… Give me a break fella….. These people are not to be messed with? What are they going to do? Take my ticket off me and escort me from the ground…..ooooo nasty stuff eh! Surely in removing anyone with banners they would indirectly be doing such supporters a favour.
The ground is private property and yes they would escort you from the ground and ban you. Asia rays is very powerful at the club. Just see how much they are paid. I hope no one does anything in the ground they won’t tolerate it
Sounds like good publicity then if they are going to be so brutal. In fact, it could prove the best publicity yet then? i.e. Big Brother AKA Asia Rays bully boy tactics against their own fans … I can see the headlines now and a picture of a crying lad (my son) and his dad explaining why they have been banned for life. Love it.
Asia Rays?
Asia Rays is one person, Peter Pannu.
gosh you got lol
It is dumbfounding how people can blame Lee Clark, I for one will not judge the bloke until he has had a fair crack of the whip. He is literally managing a League One or Two club in the Championship! That is how the club is being run at the moment. As for Zigic, he certainly gets no sympathy from me. We get bored of hearing about his huge salary and the fact that it isn’t his fault he gets paid so much and that we forked out a £6 Million fee for him. Yes without him Blues would never have won the Carling Cup but for a player of his standard and the salary he earns, he is a poor Championship player and his performance on Saturday is unacceptable.
The guys getting on… he wasn’t the most mobile in his prime! As for wages, only one person to blame – PP for offering a shocker of a contract. I don’t “sympathise” with him either but I also don’t expect performances worthy of a £6 million player – he’s not that anymore, if he was even worth that when we signed him!
I agree about LC. We are a poor Championship club and we can’t expect to be any higher than we are. We can hope, sure. But LC deserves our support.
KRO
reece brown must be kept at all cost….i should like
him tried with stevie may of st johnstone up front
..i think we should lay off a bit on heavy training
with regulars ..keep going lc
Reece brown is as good as gone already and who can blame him?
Hughton was quoted he wont walk way from norwich…..
Unless a bigger club come in and offer more money…..
Pannu asked to to stay on as there was going to be new owners.Hughton obviously saw straight through him.
Says alot for our manager who fights his corner, never moans, some fans hate with a passion…..keep going clark we are with you if some aint……kro
With you on that Mark.
I don’t think cy will sell before his trial and I am not so sure he will afterwards, remember we are paying asia rays to consult and they will always recommend to carson not to sell as they and pp are on a nice little earner from bihl. not much to look forward to I am afraid.i am sure at some point we are going to have a run of bad results through no fault of lee clark and he will only take so much and walk ! k.r.o.
Judging by the number of blogs that have gone off the original topic it seems fans are more concerned about what’s happening on the pitch than off it and that’s why PP and CY continue to shaft the club and it’s supporters.
The fans have no control over events in Hong Kong or with Carson Yeung, that is in the hands of the Hong Kong legal system and will be dealt with on 28th of February, the EGM is February 5th and again the fans have no control over.
What is happening on the pitch is what the fans see and are entitled to view their opinions either here, the Club web site or any other local media.
I find the fans on OP are mainly intelligent and offer a cross section of alternatives and viewpoints from their own perspective.
In answer to your viewpoint, CY and PP are the ones who pull the strings and until someone comes up with the £40/50+ millions required they will continue to do so.
KRO+DNM
Chris,
Yes I agree with what you say but the fans have the power to get rid of these arse….s by not going to the games or putting anymore money into the club..
What people are tending to forget are the comments both Stephen Carr and Curtis Davies made about the club upon their departures. Both backed Lee Clark all the way but also warned us of what to expect and its happened, no fault of the manager, the blame solely lays at the feet of the owners. In fact the whole blame is the actual arrest and frozen assets of Carson, nothing else. Lee Clark always gets backed by the loyal away support, its about time the home support, what there is of it, appreciate what he is trying to do under nearly impossible circumstances, we even struggle to get a loan players in right now!
what annoys me blues fans, amariji give us bit and bobs of information, I am asking any one, can you find the true value of BIRMINGHAM CITY FOOTBALL CLUB, no b…shit the real value, and send this message to CY, and around the world, then we might get a buyer, so amariji don.t give us all the hows and wheres, find, THE TRUE VALUATION OF THE BLUES, then confront CY, you cannot sell your house more than its value, so give us the real figure AMARIJI. OK.
Wtf is amariji??
I agree the reason why we are where we are is because of money problems. Our squad is thin, Sold all our future players we have a manager a lot of people find hard to back all due to lack of money. Carson is the main reason we are in the bottom half of the championship, people who praise him need to realise this.
We will be lucky not to go the way of Portsmouth and Coventry at this moment in time. If Lee Clark keeps Birmingham in the Championship then he has been a success this season, no question.
unfortunately andy not to many……..its well documented of my opinion of him along with others that he will become our most successful manager……………………..
You must be joking.
Look at his record since joining the club Mark.
And you can’t blame it all on insufficient funds.
You could give him £20m to spend and he would still struggle in this league-he’s out of his depth and always will be.
What a load of rubbish – why can people like you see the evidence in front of them! If he had £30m we’d be top of the table. How can you expect ANY manager to progress when good players are always sold, no chance of transfers in and not even being able to compete in the loan market. People like you really spout some junk.
Yes, utter garbage and sadly typical of more than a few Blues fans, we do seem to have some of the least knowledgeable supporters.
Lee Clark is in a similar position to Gordon Ramsey being given a few tins of dented baked beans and being tasked with putting on a banquet,
He is doing an amazing job and anyone with an ounce of football savvy would recognise that.
As usual you kept your gob shut during the 10 match unbeaten run, then stick the knife in as soon as there’s a defeat. Your not a supporter, you just love the negativity!
Serious question here for Frankie, Agent McLiesh, Blue in Spain etc. I admit I was vocal in my criticisms of Clark last season, probably unfairly, becuase we seemed to become a worse team under him in the space of half a season. My view of Clark has changed somewhat – I have the utmost respect for him now becuase it’s obvious to all the pressures he faces, and the fact that we are not bottom and adrift is a testament to the work he has done here.
That said, I cannot bring myself to say in all honesty that he is “the best manager we’ve ever had” or that I would be happy sticking with him if we were by some miracle to obtain a sugar daddy with money to put into the club. Let’s say it happens, and Clark is then given £20 mill to invest. Could you honestly say you would be entirely comfortable with Clark managing the £20 million to invest or would you rather the new owner appointed a new manager? Do you think Clark and his backroom staff have the ability and nous to get us into the Premier and keep us there?
A very belated Happy New a Year to you Blue in Spain it’s good to hear from you again!
So Clark with money did well at Huddersfield and what about his atrocious home record at STA.?
As for a viable alternative-there is one!
Sack him
Agreed Andy – Let’s ease off Clark. Most managers wouldn’t go near his particular poisoned chalice. I think the man’s made of fine mettle and has a great understanding of his resources, the game and players. What beat us against Yeovil was one man – James Hayter. Hungry, cunning, experienced and knows where the back of the net is. They only had the ball for 37% of the game fer cryin’ out loud! We need a Hayter and, sorry, we don’t need the big Serb…he fails so often in front of goal it’s tragic.
There’s a charming expression here in Oz, about a s**t sandwich still being a s**t sandwich no matter how much garnish you put on it. Somehow, Clark has managed to sanitise the sandwich and even put a bit of nice meat in it on occasions…I admire him.
Well said Oz
All these people saying don’t go to the games are way off the mark. Do they know what support means? Having a half empty ground puts us in a worse position not better. Less attractive as a purchase, zero funding for transfers, increased possibility of administration, worse atmosphere and poorer results. Those calling for boycotts are just adding to an already miserable situation and now we’re down to 13,000. These same people then come on and say how crap the football and atmosphere is whilst missing the fact that they are helping create it. Course some of these people aint been to a game for tens of years so their point of view is clouded to say the least and others who can’t be bothered anymore anyway are just using the current situation to hide behind. Pulling apart every kick of the game, every tactic well actually not every one just the poor ones which fuels their agenda.
I’d like to give a shout out to those few who are still attending. We all know how bad it is but we wont desert our club. The away following in particular are very supportive of both Lee and the teams efforts. Be interesting to see what the attendance would be if we pull a home quarter final in the cup
ohhhhhhhhhhhh no he’s not…………. quarter final yeah right you would not buy a ticket………oh look the pink elephant flown by……………….again……the only think that’s boring is the constant hide behind not going, and using any excuse………..and then still spouting off about things that they can never be changed unless carson decide too…………..Daniel is right bcfc not the be all but to the fans that do go it is whether home or away……………….
*thing
I go home and away and Believe me Blues are not the be all and end all to me.Important,yeah,.But there is more to life Mark.
What a shame finances prevented us from signing Nabil Bentaleb when he was on trial! Looks like we missed out on a gem.
When you think of the talent we COULD have in the team but for the necrotic debacle that is BIHL.
Mutch, Redmond, Bentaleb and many of the others ‘pawned’ to prop up the ridiculous paper company that is BIHL.
its quite amazing that the people who slag of lee clark and tell everyone to boycott the games
are the ones that dont go down and yet have the balls to call themselves blues fans, your a
dissgrace to the badge, your as much as a plague as what the owners are…..its your choice
to do what you like but dont brandish proper bluenoses with your opimions when they count
for nothing,,,sorry but it had to be said!!!KRO.
It’ll be the same people that said he was only signing Olly Lee because of a favour to his Dad. The same people that said the player wasn’t good enough for Blues, yet didn’t have the brains to realise he was being kept out of the Barnet team by Edgar Davids. I despair with the Clark haters on here. Always slag him off, never offer a viable alternative.
If it wasn’t LC they whinge about it would be someone else. If Houghton had decided to stay on they would now be moaning about him, if Blues had appointed Mourinho they’d be moaning about him. Thankfully the majority of people on OP seem to be of greater intellect and can see the real reasons for our clubs current situation.
Totally agree, I was a LC critic when he first arrived but can see what he is trying to achieve and the constraints he has to work under. He has learnt the hard way and made some awful mistakes in that first season, he still makes mistakes but who doesn’t.
The features I like about OP is the intelligent postings by a majority of fans and the freedom of speech we are allowed and of course the information and insight Dan provides us with, putting the local and national reporters to shame.
As in all walks of life we still get those who moan or argue just for the sake of it.
KRO+DNM
Olly Lee isn’t good enough for Blues.It’s only down to circumstances he’s here.To say he was being kept out by awell past his sell by date Edgar Davids isn’t a great endorsement.
And you say others are up their own arse!
? Surely the fact he was at Barnet explains it all ?
Why, does that mean any lower league player can never be signed as they are not good enough for Blues. If you got you’re head out of your arse you would see there are a lot of good lower league players that make the step up.
Olly Lee isn’t good enough for the championship Imo.I,m not saying there aren’t good players in the lower divisions. I,m saying that the fact that Davids kept him out of the the team means nothing.Barnet were probably paying David’s a few quid,so they were always going to play him.You’re not reading what i,m saying.The fact that Davids was at Barnet explains he was well past his best.I wasn’t talking about the fact that Lee was only at Barnet.FFS
Its time for fans to get there HEADS out of the SAND and start SUPPORTING the CLUB again.
We cannot change who OWNS the club or what’s happening in HONG KONG.
No BOYCOTT will CHANGE ANYTHING.
They will get the MONEY to PAY pp wages when Zigic leave, Do we really wont to give the Board with Zigic wages or do we want new players?
Do we hear Man U FANS saying im not RENEWING my ST cause we having a bad season, no we don’t so lets get real and start supporting the YOUNG TEAM we have.
We can use our voices at the ground no one can stop us singing be out sung by about 100+ Yeovil fans was a DISGRACE we have got our selves in this mess lets try getting out of it.
Totally agree with everything, especially the support.
Bristol Rovers and Yeovil showed us up, yet when we go away we are all noise and appreciation, do all the other travelling fans stay at home when we play at St Ans?
I love the atmosphere away from home but for some reason my heart sinks when I walk into the ground at home, why?
No atmosphere, only sing after we score, even when the team walks out apart from the applause, after that nothing, only half-hearted cheering when the names are called out. I remember hearing the cheers in the bull ring when the names were called and the chanting and rendition of “We’ve got Hockey on the wing”, etc, those were the days.
KRO+DNM
To be honest with you Chris im thinking about going to away game just for the singing, I wouldn’t even think about giving my cash to another club, but I just want to show my son whats its like when there none stop singing
KRO
Do it Tracy.He will love it.
You will both love it, you would not believe the difference. First time I went I had to check I was in the right stand…. even checked the shirts, the players attitude is different too.
KRO+DNM
Of course you’re right Trace well said. All this current mess is just a smokescreen for those who are no longer interested. They are Blues in online terms only.
Reece Hales training with Notts County on a short-term trial basis… whatever that means.
Could be to get him use to playing under larger crowds, he has only appeared once for Blues as a late sub v Leeds last year.
Maybe they have something different that Blues don’t to strengthen certain aspects of his game, might not be worth paying for just on player so loan him out?…. Just a thought… Other than that maybe using his wage to bring in another short term loan or trialist (is that a word?) striker?
KRO+DNM
well said Tracy and ive been saying for ages our support is shocking at home and awesome
away… some fans come down st andrews just to be a nuisance and dont know what there
watching, they boo like saturday which i find absurd and never support the club the way we
all do, its moan, moan, moan all the time…..those of us who do go away which ofcourse is
the real fans support the team for 90 mins and the atmosphere is uncompareable, fantastic,
i just wish theyed realise what weve had to go through the last 3 years and bear that in mind
before they make themselves look fools and show there real colours…..which is claret and
blue propably!!!! KRO.
Up ur own arse a bit there Dave.Just because you don’t go away doesn’t mean your’e not a real fan.Maybe it’s the cost that stop people going away.The atmosphere is better away,but so are the performances.Why don’t the away supporters sing at home ?As for fans coming back if we get in the prem.We couldn’t sell out then.
oh well,
I enjoyed the Barry Fry days , Ricky Otto , Kevin Francis – bambi on ice
Be careful what you wish for. Paul Ince has been sacked by Blackpool!
the good days will return and unfortunetly so will the stay away fans now……so easy to
support the team in good times but those of us who do support the team in bad times and
all times are the ones who can hold there heads up with pride and say ” we were there,
were you”….those who dont..were propably see you in the premiership when all of a
sudden like majic that 13,000 turns into 23,000….funny that!!!! KRO.
as long as he stays away from blues i couldnt care less…..very good player, very average manager
….i wouldnt mind is son though, but of course that wont happen.KRO.
Blues have signed Manchester City attacking midfielder Albert Rusnak, on a month’s youth loan.
Even if he is thinking of another option we need someone in the box to put the chances away and neither Zigic or Novak have provided that.
Can’t fault the team for not creating chances may have been one sided with only Burke but Howard seems to like the left more so maybe we can send Fergie back as he hasn’t been the same as last season with Fergie.
Definitely need a defender even if Bartley returns, which he won’t against Swansea anyway, we are short and Robbo is walking a tightrope before he gets his two match ban, still bemused as why Packwood has not been used, even as a sub, especially as he is a central defender.
KRO+DNM
another midfielder…..just what we need.KRO.
we okay with defenders dave if they come back lol
It could be that he’s thinking that lumping it up to Zigic all the time ain’t working. With the Brian Howard signing and now this young lad, it might be that he’s thinking different tactics going forward to get more goals. Let’s hope so. If we could put more of our chances away, the defence wouldn’t be under so much pressure every game.
I hope he gets some defenders in.That’s what we’re desperate for.
I think he’s quite aware that we need a centre back. Even when Bartley is fit, we’ll still be one down.
Let’s hope he does something about it then.
Oldham sent Rusnak back when he refused to play for the reserves.
Lee Clark is good at taking players with bad attitudes and turning them round. It was him that made the player he is at West Ham now. Although, if you go on loan to a lower division team and don’t make the first team, you might as well stay at your own club and play in their reserves.
Sorry, it was Morrison I was talking about.
He was playing for the first team.
I would guess that Rusnak has been brought in as a replacement for Lingard.
I wonder if Blackpool are going to show an interest in Lee Clark again?
Hopefully they will.
Change the title to “Positive Tuesday”
PS….I don’t think he will leave Blues because he’s too loyal and committed to Blues….lol
If Lee Clark leaves… I dread to think who the board would appoint.
Apologies for the lack of story today, personal circumstances have precluded it. I will be writing about Albert Rusnak tonight
Look forward to that.
My condolences Dan. Appreciate all your effort with this blog!
Lee Clark will never walk out on blues who would when hes getting 350k a year, he dont care if he has his hands, legs tied and his mouth strapped up.
He has the safest job in football and he knows it, now hes signed another midfielder, astonishing just astonishing. In the name of mercy get rid of him and his comic sidekick
to replace lingard………..some fans just dont get the Que……………….
Tony dont you just hate him having supposedly THE safest manager seat….. :-0
We could put Zigic in defence as he always heads away from the goal.
Reece Brown will not sign a contract for us and walk away to another club and end up disappearing like Nabay Foday. It will be a very bad move career wise.
I do not understand why Reece Hale has gone on loan when we have no strikers.
experience…………hopefully he get some goals while been loaned out…………
Neither do I Jazzy, I would have given him a chance before now
It may have something to do with Lovenkrands being fit again. With Zigic, Novak and Lovenkrands, Hales wouldn’t make the bench.
You have to laugh at this comment from the “best manager we have ever had”!!!!
“The type of players that we now have in the midfield areas are all talented ball players and that gives us the possibility to change one or two things higher up the pitch. All the strikers that we have give us something different so Albert will be able to link up with them.”
Read more at http://www.bcfc.com/news/article/20140121-lee-clark-on-albert-rusnak-1308737.aspx#wD4hRE8j4FJfz3wu.99
There is nothing wrong with positive thinking.
Positive thinking= Positive attitude = positive results.
If he offers the same as Lingard then it has to be welcomed, we have missed his ability to get to the by-line or run with the ball, so lets give the guy a chance, anything is better than nothing.
KRO+DNM
unfortunately chris some fans are not positive……fact of life
According to a lot of people, we’ve missed Lingard since he went back. So, Clark works hard to bring in a highly-rated player to replace him and gets the p*ss taken. I think that, with Burke, Adeyemi, Howard and now Rusnak… we DO have some talent in there. One thing is certain, it will be nice to see us play, instead of just lumping it up to the lump all the time!
The way I see it:
LC- had worked under very difficult circumstances and never complained and is doing his best despite the financial difficulties the club faces.
PP- The highly qualified lawyer and in charge of three companies, the parent company in HK and the holding companies in the UK BCP and BCFC– had made sure we got the cup,, and for the last 2.5 years made sure we did not go bust as after CY’s arrest, the club’s was heavily in debt to the bank and now we are the 2nd lowest spending club–thanks to his prudence and good management…he had also moved CY s loans back to HK so that the club has better prospects for sale– and since joining the HK board he moved the HK company forward and latest HK announcements (circular) (if anyone cares to read…) shows the amount of work done in HK for the club.—- there is no free lunch and what he is paid I feel is absolutely justified.
CY– He is the AH—-the sooner he goes the better and 28th Feb is the day
UK staff— under PP …perfect
Lets support the boys…The rumors are PP will work for this rich guy at southhampton…
I want what ever you are on.
Either that you you are one of two people, PP or CY, we know they read this blog and wouldappriciate their honest input.
Keep taking the tablets.
KRO+DNM
To be fair to Clark all blues strikers do give us something different, however the one thing they dont give us is goals for christ sake
All this talk of takeovers and missing fans is not helping the team who in their right mind would want to buy us at the moment ? Our gates are poor even when in the premiership we rarely sold out and our capacity is only around 30,000 ! If someone does buy the club it wont be someone who is mega rich. The midlands doesn’t seem to attract oil barons and even if it did there are bigger more famous clubs out there than us so forget all the side issues and get behind the players.