- Home
- Birmingham City
- Current Squad
- Adam Legzdins
- Jonathan Grounds
- Paul Robinson
- Ryan Shotton
- Maikel Kieftenbeld
- Robert Tesche
- Stephen Gleeson
- Clayton Donaldson
- Diego Fabbrini
- David Cotterill
- Rhoys Wiggins
- Che Adams
- Lukas Jutkiewicz
- Viv Solomon-Otabor
- Jacques Maghoma
- Greg Stewart
- Jonathan Spector
- David Davis
- Michael Morrison
- Tomasz Kuszczak
- Paul Caddis
- Development Squad
- Academy
- Ladies Team
- Sophie Baggaley
- Alex Windell
- Meaghan Sargeant
- Jess Carter
- Kerys Harrop
- Freda Ayisi
- Kirsty Linnett
- Bella Linden
- Andrine Hegerberg
- Abbey-Leigh Stringer
- Melissa Lawley
- Charlie Wellings
- Chloe Peplow
- Rebecca Lloyd
- Connie Schofield
- Emily Westwood
- Cheryl Edwards
- Corina Schröder
- Ashlee Brown
- Coral-Jade Haines
- Aoife Mannion
- Ann-Katrin Berger
- Out on Loan
- Former Players
- Boards and Advisors
- Appearance Data 2014/2015
- Current Squad
- Factfiles
- Series
- Sponsorship
- Website Info
- Social Media
- Contact Me
Watson out, Crossley in?
BBC Radio Sheffield have reported that Birmingham City have approached Chesterfield for the services of their goalkeeping coach Mark Crossley to replace Dave Watson who is negotiating terms with Norwich City.
Crossley,43, has been goalkeeping coach with the Spireites for three years and played with Lee Clark at Fulham between 2003 and 2005. The former keeper made over three hundred league appearances for Nottingham Forest in eleven years at the City Ground and has the distinction of being the only person to save a Matt Le Tissier penalty.
Should Crossley join Blues he will become the third new member of Clark’s coaching staff after the appointments of coaches Terry McDermott and Derek Fazackerley.
Tags: Dave Watson, Mark Crossley
52 Responses to “Watson out, Crossley in?”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Thanks Chris
Sad to see Dave Watson go , I know he worked his keepers hard and did everything he asked his keepers to do , he also shields them from a lot nonsense thats go’s on within football ,(if your a goalkeepers parent your know what I mean ) belive me he has very high standards !!! I wish him well and thank him
I really don’t want Watson to go, under him we’ve had the best set of goalkeepers I’ve ever seen in my time supporting Blues.
Crossley can’t be that highly thought of if he’s never really made it past being the goalkeeping coach of a League Two club.
On that basis Dave Watson is no way good enough for England as he is with a championship club and players from lower divisions should always stay there too. Maybe Crossley is a coach the manager knows, trusts and will do a good job- but you have to be lower down in order to move up in the first place. As for him as a keeper I am more heppy that he was also a keeper who made some horrid blunders when he started out and then developed into a decent keeper. W
By that logic Watson should not be with England squad as he is only a champ coach. The point is to be any good and move onwards, you need to be lower down in the first place. Maybe this is a good coach in the making and he is already being talked of not being good enough…
I am glad as he is a keeper who made some absolute clangers when he started for Forrest and then developed into a good keeper. He is someone who knows what it is like starting out and had to deal with psychological aspects of the game, so could help Butland.
Also to be fair to Watson, he has done agreat job. But I would hope any coach would do a good job with 2 England keepers worth millions each. I would expect us to have better keepers than in years because of this just as much as the coach.
Good luck Watson, but if we are cashing in without any resistance again in order to make a few quid and he wants to go- goodbye.
Watson had only been a lower league coach until we picked him up
This is a bit of a blow if it happens. Sorry to see Watson move on but wish him the best. Have no idea how good Crossley is but he’ll have a tough act to follow.
So Crossley’s the only person to save a Matt le Tissier penalty? That’ll come in handy in then in the Sky Sports studio. Give him the job.
Colin, From your comments, may we deduce that you are Nick Townsend’s dad? In which case a) you know what you’re talking about and b) you must be very proud. He looks like another good prospect.
Yes im nicks dad , and I live in hope that he wears my city’s colours thanks
Colin – I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen of Nick – I think he’s got a bright future and for me personally I’d be happy with him as third keeper.
Thanks for that , 3rd keeper I’d be over the moon , to be fair to blues they have managed him very well , over the years so I live in hope .KRO
“BBC Radio Sheffield have reported” “Dave Watson is negotiating with Norwich” At the moment there is nothing definite in either of these stories. Contrary to popular belief, the BBC do not always get things right (especially if it involves Birmingham), yet already we are stating that Crossley won’t be good enough and accepting that we are letting Watson go to Norwich without a fight.
I accept that both of these scenarios may be turn out to be the case but, until DW has accepted the Norwich job – I believe he is still in negotiations with us, as well – I will hold out hopes that he will stay. Until then, I hope that LC and PP try everything possible to keep him.
As for Crossley, if he does join us, whether it is as coach or assistant to DW, I will wait until he has had a chance to prove himself before I consider whether or not he should be condemned. In the meantime, if he joins us, I will welcome him to the club and give him my support – unless he proves that support to be misplaced.
Either way, after a summer of negative speculation and innuendo, let’s not go out trying to find more bad news. Let’s not meet trouble half way, before it has even decided to come in our direction.
“Think Positive” – from now on, that is going to be my new mantra.
With Watson going now,it’s just as bad as a good player leaving blues…..tatts also saying on twitter that hughton has an Interest in Chris Burke now and until we have new ownership we are going to be ripped apart every transfer window…depressing or what??we have to sell too survive and continue too tread water week in week out……part of that pannu statement don’t make sense regarding we are going to be in profit…also parts of tatts blog didn’t make for good reading yesterday did it…..Carson yeung OUT…
Too be honest if there’s even a shred of truth to this we may as well say bye bye to Chris Burke now. You can’t blame the guy, he’s approaching 30 (I think?) and never played in the Premier before. The real blame should go to Pannu for not negotiating a no approach clause with Chris Houghton for any of our players as part of the permission to speak to Norwich. Anyone still think CH a real “gentleman”?? We gave him his chance, he buggers off after one season and no seems intent on pillaging our club taking anyone and anything of value??
Mickey we really dont need this negative crap. Carson backed us majorly until the poop hit the fan. We are stuck with Zigic on huge wages aint we. Well not a good deal was it but hey he backed it and supported the managers wishes of the day and has lost a lot of money being owner of the Blues. memories are short. Whether he sells up or not i wish him well as he has never deliberately hurt us.
Mickey – understand the point you’re making but it’s based on the wrong assumptions. Zigic was not McLeish’s choice – he was offered to Carson by his agent and it was Carson that signed him as a “gift”.
If the Watson/Burke/Davies rumours are true it would really make me feel some resentment towards CH.. Fully understand why he went to Norwich but pay the fans some respect and dont come back for the assets that could potentially put the club on it’s knees..
Can’t blame hughton for anything mate,this is the nature of the business we are in dog eat dog,if I was hughton I would be doing exactly the same if I had too…everything lays with Carson yeung and the total mess he has got the club into.
I think your right – Someone said below that would we react the same if LC started poaching ex players.. I cant imagine anyone would frown on it.
It guess its always easy to feel like the victim club, but there’s always someone bigger than you to take players/staff no matter what club you are, with the exception of the elite like Barca etc.
Birmingham cant have it both ways. They can’t keep pocketing all the cash coming their way that they got or will get fom players.
Norwich paid a fair price for CH and his staff. £2 million is a lot of money for someone who is 53 years of age. You dont get that kind of money for players, let alone managers. And the new manager would want his own backroom staff anyhow. So Best that we get money from Norwich rather than have to shelve out money on sacking them.
If they also come in for any players i am sure they would pay a fairer price with CH at the helm than any of the other vulture clubs hovering around waiting to try and pick them up on the cheap.
CH has a job to do at Norwich. He is no less a gentleman now, just because he is no longer manager of Birmingham City.
CH is a symptom not the cause of this mess..
Tattums blog makes depressing reading .
“Blues, the club, are just about able to continue as a going concern, even with these latest sales”
His view is until BIHL sell Blues on we will remain nostril deep in the smelly stuff .
Which opens the prospect up of more sales , indeed you it wouldn,t be a suprise to see Zigic moved on in a free transfer , to cut the wage bill.
The up is the younger players will have opportunties , which we trust will attract more good young players to the BCFC Academy.
Hold very little stock as to what Evening Mail tells me. They just repeat the same blurb and suggest stuff. I mean- which Einstein reported today that we have a headache as we wont have a keeper with Butland at Olympics??? Was that journalism or stating the flaming obvious….
Damn you Hughton
Hope Norwich go down
CH is now on the payroll of Norwich, so it’s understandable he’ll do what’s best for that club. His employer and Norwich fans would not expect anything less. If LC tried to cherry pick Huddersfield players, would any of us think badly of him? I’d like to think that we are all above such double standards.
As for PP insisting on a “no poaching” clause in CH’s release, what difference would that make? Norwich is just one club in the Premier League. If CH’s hands were tied, what’s to stop other clubs going after Burke? It’s not as if he’s not known to them. What I would say is that he is under contract, so it’s not that straightforward for other clubs, Norwich included, to prize him away. It’s the ones who are coming to the end of their contracts that we have to fear losing, and I don’t believe Burke falls into that category – unless someone is prepared to make that “eye popping” offer, and let’s face it, nobody is going to do so for a guy who’s nearly 30.
I think it’s best to wait and see what happens rather that presuming or believing speculation. In any case LC would have already started talking to the squad members about his plans to dispel any notions they may have of agitating for a move. In fact I haven’t noticed anyone doing yet, a different scenario from this time last year when many did.
Colin Townsend
Nice of you to acknowledge what Watson has done for your lad. Also pleasing that we have another local lad coming through the ranks. I wish him well and hopefully he’ll one day have the chance to wear the shirt in the first team.
Thanks he’s a lot to learn still , so we are happy to wait ,and see what happens KRO
hi guys just to say if you get crossley he’ll be sorely missed here our current keeper tommy lee has gone from an alright keeper to possibly the best i’ve seen here in 30 years of watching chesterfield and won player of season 3 years running. cant see that being coincidence.
Hi spiriete spence,
From what you say it seems that he will be quite a loss to you guys if he joins us. I guess genuine fans like you have a well developed sense of pragmatism.
Cheers for the info mate,interesting comments.
Ziggy going on a free ,on the face of it seems like a real shame .But if you discount the leeds game he was about as effective as Adam Rooney last season.
.If we do get a fee for him it will only be a fraction of what he cost us,maybe if he goes we can keep one or two more of our better payers.
he did score 12 goals!
he did score 12 goals!
If Blues get offered 5 mill for Burke we should snap their hands off. I like Burke but he is approaching his twilight years and is itching to play in the prem. Redmond is his natural replacement and like Butland, should make the starting 11 regular next season.
Burke scored 14 goals and 12 assists I think we would miss those goals!
If we want to make a serious challenge for automatic play-offs then we need as many good players as possible we are not going to be able to compete with a team full of kids!
Hi Almajir I haven’t got any points to make as such but wanted to express my appreciation for the information you provide on the Blues. I will support the Blues whatever happens even if that means in the Conference league however I have a real difficulty squaring how we can appear to be so successful in the PL 2 years ago to where we are now. I’m not clever enough to know the reasons why but I do sincerely hope that we turn the corner soon. THANK YOU for providing the most reliable information on the club I love.
Yes Houghton did a good job now he’s left and taking anything he can get his hands on with him gentleman ha don’t make me laugh
Anyone else feeling not so surprised??? It was only a few weeks ago when the news broke that Chris Hughton was off to Norwich ..someone did comment on here that CH would plunder our team and be the first off the blocks to do so.
It’s a bit like Pannu said in his statement ..’It is business’. (or to that extent).
If the rumour mills are correct, then another goodbye, if they’re not ..then we keep a good team and we deserve a chance to have another shot at finishing in the play off’s.
Don’t want to say a bad word about CH, but I’m expecting someone else will say some!!!
Annoyed with Chris hughton he leaves us then try’s to buy all of our good players
I dont think Hughton should be slated by any Blues fan. Birmingham are no longer his concern, Norwich are, and its his job to bring the players to Norwich that he sees fit. There is no loyalty or compassion in football and Hughton owes Birmingham nothing.
when he was on the scrapheap we picked him up and now he’s knocking us down
It is business as usual, on the one hand, I recon he should do the right thing & repay the respect in which we let him speak to Norwich, & not dismantle a fair team he created.
But on the other hand, want to believe he would make a solid, eye popping offer just too good to refuse, so we can stay a sustainable football club, Can’t help but assume if he does come in for our player of the season , it will be a measly 1mil, KTF & KRO
CH didn;t even bring Burke to the club…or Davies…or Redmond….or Butland….or Watson…
In fact whatever did CH do for the Blues…? :)
At least Norwich don’t seem to have to be forced to pay compensation when they take staff. Some other Premiership clubs, not all of which are far away, need far more persuasion.
CH is no better that any other money grabbing sod, he is no gent, he makes a name for himself with our club and is supported by our fans then buggers off at the first chance to a lesser club and sneaks back to ransack our players,Gent he’s a guttersnipe and without our fanbase backing our team he would not have been half as good… lets just see how good he does in the prem cos i for one think he will sink ,
bluenoseforeva If i may say your view is a little harsh to say the least. I don’t think you could call his time at Newcastle as a failure by any stretch of imagination. He took them straight back up and was doing just fine when he was sacked which is one of footballs strangest mysteries as to why that was. Ask any Newcastle fan if they believe he failed in the Premiership and i think the answer would be a big no. This is football and its nothing different from what any other manager does and im sure Lee Clarke will be doing exactly the same. He may of failed to get us promoted but this time last year everyone was going on about us falling down another division. I say that meaning that we achieved more than many expected and i don’t see why turning on CH is necessary. Also please remember when you talk of bigger club that our ground was half empty or if you want me to sound more optimistic then half full even when we was 9th in the league under 2 different managers. So i don’t think inflating our status as a huge club is wise..
well ther was a reason for him being let go by Newcastle , something not quite right there ….
i have to disagree with your synopsis on CH
Birmingham got a years work out of him for free and actually, got around 5 times in comensation than what they paid him in salary for the year.
The gate money receipts in helping get them into the play offs means he brought in even more money to Birmingham.
Money was never the reason he left Birmingham. he has probably about 10 years of his working life left and if you want to get to the top of your profession in that time, you cantwait around another 3 years or so for birmingham city to get their finances into a situation where you can genuinely challenge to get into the premiership and stay there
CH couldnt take us up to the prem last season so he intends to play there this term with our players and backroom staff, by the strart of the season it will be BCFC in the prem but in a southampton shirt.
You seem to be in a minority in viewing CH’s work at Birmingham as being less than satisfactory
I’m more gutted about DW leaving than I was about CH. Anyone else think it would be worthwhile starting a petition to stop the board allowing him to leave so easily. Granted, if he wants to leave then you can’t hold him back; but it might prove his worth to the club, surely an improved contract might sway him especially if we as fans show him how keen we are to keep him.