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Vitriol and Anger
Birmingham City were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by a far superior Burnley side at Turf Moor last night leaving the Blues fourth bottom of the Championship have won once and scored four times in seven league games.
It’s getting harder and harder to write these kind of articles. Due to work and family commitments away games are problematic for me so a trip to Lancashire in midweek was never going to happen and I have to salute the 420 Bluenoses who did make the trip to see what was by all accounts I have read a poor performance by Blues. There is no doubt that at this moment in time we have a relatively poor manager who is struggling with a relatively poor group of players at a club with a pretty poor set of owners.
However, what worries me most in all this is just how poor the support from some of the fans is at the moment. Criticism of poor performances is fine but there seems to be some real vitriol at the moment and the toxicity in the air isn’t pleasant. I will say that some of it absolutely disheartens me and that I got to the point last night where I actually had to physically walk away from my laptop because it was making me angry. When you have “fans” slagging off the manager’s son on twitter because the team lost it does make me wonder what happened to a fanbase that supposedly was famous for its gallows humour and for its ability to take the rough with the smooth – have people become this spoiled because of a few years in the sun?
Am I saying that people aren’t right to criticise Clark? Of course not; I think some decisions he has made of late have been strange and whilst I can appreciate he’s trying to change the team to get the best out of individual situation I would like to see some tactical consistency. However the amount of bile and vitriol spouted from people who just don’t go to games at all sickens me – I’m sorry, but there is no way you can truly judge how well the team has played without seeing it for yourself. It’s like people clamouring for inclusion of players without considering that there may be a reason why they are omitted. For example, I’ve seen on some sites people go on about how Scott Allan must be picked but judging by what I saw of Allan on Monday I wouldn’t have him anywhere near the side – he looked poor in an u21 game and was shown up by a 17-year-old rookie partnering him in the middle.
I’ve said it many times now but we’re in for a season of woe and if we avoid relegation we’ll have done well. I did hope that people would see just how poor things were around the squad and where Clark was having to look for players and thus would lower their expectation levels but it doesn’t seem that they have done so. We’ve played quite a few teams who are either backed heavily or are who in form; the only real team towards the bottom we have played (Yeovil) we beat.
Saturday is the acid test for me – we play a Sheffield Wednesday side at home who haven’t won yet in the league this season. If the team don’t turn up and we take another tanking then maybe the vitriol will be much more understandable; however, if we can pick up three points then there is a chance that maybe, just maybe Clark isn’t as bad as people have made out. It would be nice if people backed the team that day and at least did their bit to try to help the team win.
Tags: Lee Clark, Social Media
218 Responses to “Vitriol and Anger”
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When you say ‘slagging off the owner’s son’ did you mean the manager’s son or were they both in the firing line?
i like you am finding it hard to read some of the comments being posted right now on the message board and as such have avoided reading it for some weeks now.
appreciate whats said about Clark and his lack of quality as we have only the teams performances to base judgement on. however i think given some backing he could do things with the team and his willingness to give youth a chance is refreshing at St Andrews i also think those calling for his head are in a dream world we can neither afford to pay the compensation nor could we bring in anyone better i imagine.
equally for the most part (i wont name the exceptions thats been done to death, just to say i wonder if any Blues players are taking note of Mr Kaka’s actions at Milan following injury) you cant blame the players entirely, they are as good or bad as they are they are, its not their fault we are having to scour the land for Freebies in lower leagues.
i will continue to make the majtches when i can but as you rightly say the atmosphere is terrible i was at the Ipswich game and struggle to remember a home game with such a dire atmosphere and where my dad ever the optimist with Blues has come away from the game with nothing positive to say other than thats a point we diodnt deserve.
bring on saturday and 3 points and a majestic rise up the table.
KRO
A good, calm, well-balanced article. I can’t disagree with any of it.
I don’t agree with some of the decisions Clark has made, but the guy is on the inside and has a better view of things than me. But it’s obvious he’s trying his damndest to find a winning formula. At the moment, he’s being let down, mainly, by individual and collective mistakes. We do lots of things right, then it’s all undone by a stupid cock-up. He must be tearing his hair out.
As I said last night, Sheffield Wednesday is our first must-win game of the season. Let’s hope the formation and personnel are right this time. Our fortunes have to change eventually.
If only we could play Yeovil every week.
Hi,
I was there last night and it was a shameful match that lacked any passion, any heart but above all any skill…I can’t understand why we played 4-3-3 because there wingers pulled us apart and Ambrose looked really woeful with a lack of pace, as did Lee Novak, at least when Green came on he looked like he wanted to win the ball…We seem to be happy playing the long ball system but you need some pace for that to work like what Burnley displayed.
There was some positives though in Burke, Brown and Green plus it was good to see Elliot with the Captain’s armband on because he tried throughout.
I am always remaining supportive and positive about Birmingham City and encourage every bluenose out there to do the same…KEEP RIGHT ON
Green was awful when he came on. See that first touch that ended up in the crowd when he had two players to put in?
Neil I salute you. You deserve either a medal for your devoted support or certified as a masochist.
I said to my 14 year old daughter last night.. “bab, if you want to support a team that will not give you any heartache, sadness, anxiety or frustration, I would not blame you”. She said, “Dad, its the Blues and I wouldn’t have it any other way…..” KRO
I didn’t go last night but was at QPR on Saturday where the performance was good and the support passionate. We’re a goal scorer away from a being a reasonable side. What’s happened and is happening has disheartened many of us but we must keep right on and hope we can beat Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday. That could turn the corner,
For me clark doesnt help himself with some of the decisions he makes. Last 4 games 4 different formations, on saturday looked like we found a formation that made us solid but be able to make chances so whats he do for the next game instead of replacing suspended robinson one for one he decides to change formation yet again and he will do the same this sat no doubt. Is it any wonder the players cant get ant consistency going when ther probably as dumbstruck as the rest of us as to what team and formation he be playing in next game. You show me any successful team in the world that chages formations and personnel on a big scale on a game by game basis because they dont do it to the degree that clark does. Still think i more experienced manager would get more out of these players then clark has/does and nothing ive seen this season has changed my mind on that. Dreading this sat with the way blues seem to be able to kickstart other teams seasons when were at home espec been as sheff wed havent won, its a real 6 pointer and if we come away with having only taken 1 point from 12 at home (relegation form in anyones book!)think clark should do the decent thing and step down. Cant see that happening but can only hope!
Dan
Is Carson still havin DVD from all the games?
I agree with everything on here and im ready for a relegation battle
I cant understand when Clark says Murphy, Zigic and Asante needs mins and they not even on bench
Is Championship games showed around the world Dan?
Tracy, Murphy, Zigic and Asante played in the development game the day before, so 2 games in 2 days would probably have been too much. But I would hope they’re all in the frame for Saturday.
Thanks Staff
We’re in a bad place, that’s for sure. I can understand the criticism from the fans to some extent, but I think a lot of it is misplaced.
I hear that L.C doesn’t know his best team, his best formation and his best tactics. I probably agree, but how can we expect him to know all this with a group of young players who are very inexperienced or making a massive step up in quality when they have only played 7 league games. Yesterday they were taken apart by a team of seasoned professionals, used to playing in this league or above and in a settled club.
L.C is also an inexperienced manager doing his best to compete on a very uneven playing field. Some of the ridiculous comments I’ve read about sacking him and letting him sue us for his compensation says a lot about the sort of people making the comments.
The blame for our situation should be placed firmly in China. All we can do is support the team. I was always told if you can’t say something constructive don’t say anything.
The manager and the players might not be good enough, but they are trying their best, they should be supported for that alone.
Whilst I agree with the comment on LC being an inexperienced manager, he needs to take a step back, have a plan and stick with it.
To my mind, he panics into tinkering with the team when a little stability would encourage the players and settle them within a known system. Not saying we shouldn’t change on odd occasion but I don’t feel that the players for all their effort are skillful and good enough to rotate on a game by game basis.
BlueB
I agree that we can’t keep changing, but I think he’s still searching for a team and a pattern that works. From what I’ve seen a decent finisher would solve a lot of the problems.
KRO
Spot on.
Agree that a decent striker would help. Where i worry is that you cannot really tell if a system will work from one game and he often changes even when we have a good performance with a particular setup.
If he gave it 3 or 4 games then decided it didn’t work then perhaps I could see the logic but with changing system and players game be game, imho he cannot really gain any insight into which is the best system for us to go forward with.
That I have to agree with. I said yesterday, we can’t know if a system will work unless we give it legs. We’ve used 3-5-2 five times and, although it kept us tight at the back, it produced few chances for the strikers. On Saturday, we tried 3-4-3 which, on the whole was successful, other than one blip. But, if all your strikers are misfiring, two won’t get you anymore goals than one. So I think he tried to give the one striker support from either side. Unfortunately, with Burke and Ambrose, that didn’t work either. I can see his thinking…. so maybe I should be sacked too. :)
I think we should go back to 3-4-3 and give it a run for 3 or 4 games at least (unless we keep getting hammered.)
well said Bluenose
well said
Your asking a team of lower league players who are not up to the job, loan players who can simply walk away at the end of the season, and a list of players as long as your arm out of contract at the end of this season to actually give a f*ck what happens, pannu is rinsing 1.5 m a year from the club and is nowhere to be seen and couldn’t f*cking care less as long as his dough lands every month, everything going on at that club this season is a recipe for disaster and Clark cannot do shit about it, league 1 next season and the sooner administration comes the sooner we can move on, it’s just the way it is right now
Comment edited – please asterisk swear words appropriately
Lee, couldn’t agree more.
I am pretty sure Saturday is D-day for Clark. A defeat will see him sacked and after the run of results so far this season it is the correct decision. This forum should now be discussing his possible replacement.
Two things
One – absolutely no chance he will be sacked. We cannot afford to do so.
Two – as I repeatedly say, this isn’t a forum – there are plenty of them out there if you want to use one.
Internet Forum (from Wikipedia)
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages.
No, this is a blog, not a forum. My site, my rules. :)
As ERic Morcambe used to say, “There’s no answer to that.” 8)
Yes there is – ARSE – nal !
He will be sacked. They found money to buy Caddis. They can find money to sack Clark.
I bet he isn’t.
So who is actually going to sack Clark
Any vitriol published online only becomes relevant when it is picked up by sites like this and given the attention that it set out to achieve, if people continue to react & respond to internet trolls or publish articles to highlight these incidents and such comments, we only serve to continue the trend.
What you’re article has done in-fact is to take valuable time away from the real debate, that of a manager that whilst he may be a lovely bloke, he is simply not up to the job, I offer no alternatives for the manager’s position and don’t wish to debate the financial merits of replacing him, or not. I honestly believe with the players at Clarks disposal Blues should be in a better position, it is obvious to all after 7 games that Clark neither knows he’s best team or the formation to play them in, he constantly tinkers with both playing personnel and tactics, in any work environment, this must be both confusing and frustrating to the workforce, I suggest that our problems are a lack of leadership, direction and communication that stems from a man that currently appears out of he’s depth at this moment in time.
My argument is not that Clark is a ‘bad’ manager, just that given the position and timing of the clubs issues, Clark is not a viable solution, and appears to be aiding the problems.
Good article again Dan. I wholeheartedly agree with your comments on the fans abusing Clark’s son. We would be far better off without those type of fans.
How can we go from a good performance at QPR where ‘Arry said we were the best team they had faced all season to such a dire performance at Burnley. Everything people said was good at QPR, passion, desire, organisation and ability seemed to be lost at Burnley. Was it tactics, team selection or just that we haven’t got a set of players who can play consistently well in two games in four days.
I’m not convinced by Clark because of his constant changes in team selection and team shape but I’m sure he is trying his hardest to find something which will get us a result.
Dan is right we all know (or should know) how hard this season is going to be and we have to realise nothing will change until we get new owners whenever that may be.
I’ll be there on Saturday but I dread to think how low the attendance will be. KRO
You’d lose the will to live too !! have you ever been to Burnley ?? nuff said.
Closest I got was last year. Went through it on a coach on the way to Blackpool. Must admit, it looked a bit grimm. :-/
I wasn’t there, but reading the Tatts report it sounds like we were coming to terms with the game until the second goal went in, 18 seconds after the restart – must have crushed all self-belief.
Just one of those games we need to put behind us, but do agree Sheff Wednesday on Sat could be one of the most vital games this season for us – lose that and I think mentally it’s a long way back….
IMO he has to start with Green and Novak at least, maybe even take a gamble on Zigic pairing with Green…
Suggest we play 10-0-0 for the first ten minutes then revert to 3-5-2!
I’d be surprised if Zigic and Green were paired up to be honest Richard. We need two players who are different enough to compliment each other’s game. It may be that Green might benefit greatly from playing alongside Zigic. For me, it has to be either Zigic and Green, or Zigic and Asante (if both are fit.) Or it’s possible that Ziggy will play up on his own in a 4-5-1.
I think most fans will be intrigued to know what formation and players will be used. I think we’d all agree it has to be right for this game.
Staffs, who are you trying to kid, you know he’ll start with Novak, fires more blanks than a eun, una, sod it, one of those blokes who guards a harem lol.
hurting badly after this result but we do need to keep supporting the team and getting numbers to games if only to show prospective buyers we CAN be a big club worth investing in cos at the moment we look like a small club pretending KRO
i don’t believe its clarkes fault … the players are just not good enough… god we need a goalscorer
First of all, I just want to say I am one of the few younger supporters that go nowadays so I do not remember the days we was in division 3 or we had Trevor Francis. What I have known however is Championship and Premiership football, we’ve never been great or of absolute quality compared to our Manchester or London counterparts. What I have seen however is some decent players who play with their heart on their sleeve and a loyal and gritty fan base who accept the fact that we’re never going to be great or Brazil like.
I believe the players we have at the moment, do play with their heart on the sleeve. So why have things changed with our fan base? Whether we have been spoilt, or our sudden downfall has been to quick for a majority of fans to comprehend, or is it just due to the fact that supporting your local club isn’t important anymore and watching United is a lot easier? I don’t know this.
However what I do know, is that Keep Right On doesn’t make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up anymore and the fans are disheartened. This is what really needs to change at the club.
What a good post !
The Blues have always been more about the supporters than the owners and players. There have been long periods when the only positive comments made about the club where about the fans.
We need to live up to our own history now.
KRO
Changing tthe singing intensity and crowd reaction is treating the symptoms. You need to treat the cause!
So saying in your article ‘There is no doubt that at this moment in time we have a relatively poor manager’ is not a criticism? Really? I for one (and I am a season ticket holder) don’t agree with this, Clark has an impossible job and although not above criticism as his team selections can be baffling at times, could anybody else really make a difference whilst we’re a club owned and run by the walking dead!
I for one do not expect us to go down, we will have lot’s of setbacks this season but I would expect about 14th finish with the squad we have. Don’t forget we have Murphy and Zigic to come back they will make a MASSIVE difference. But Clark really needs to get Hancox at left back and Ferguson left wing until Murphy is fit.
The atmosphere has been flat but hopefully Saturday we’ll have a Forest type performance and atmosphere with our Woger (I’m leaving to enhance my England prospects) back to spice things up instead of the ginger one.
KRO
has any1 heard of any takeover talk?
Ive read all the comments etc But as far as im concerned we can get beat 10-0 on saturday and LC will still be manager.We Cant afford to sack him or hire anyone else to manage this pile of Rubbish. Anyway no one in their right minds would take LC job on it would be one big Blot on there CV
Those saying sack Clark really don’t have a clue. Look at the players we no longer have at this club because Pannu and Yeung have sold or got rid of all our quality. Are performances like this any surprise? No because the quality of the player we are now having to rely on is getting worse and worse. Wake up and smell the coffee. Until the owners sell we are on a slow descent into League One. And do you know what? They are not bothered as long as they are picking up their management consultancies and selling our best players to make money. They are to blame not Clark. Oh yeah and as for Allan is the saviour, I thought that was Burke? Allan is a bad egg and they have found that out.
Lee Clark might not be a tactical genius but the position he’s in is unenviable. It’s like the first mate being given charge of the Titanic after half of the engines have flooded and getting stick for trying to help the ship limp back into port by any means.
We were beaten by a superior team but there are mitigating reasons for this which is that the current owners have decimated the clubs finances and player quality. Nothing will improve until they go and at the moment that’s not going to happen. Therefore one thing is for certain and that is that we can expect more of this.
Is mostly ignorance i think.
how can fans expect anything else, given the inexperience of the squad at this level.
We DO have a fair bit of talent in the squad and it will be enough to keep us up but it will be a rocky ride.
Said weeks before the season started that goalscoring would be the problem and of course if you cannot get that odd goal, you are always going to be ‘under the cosh’ and a bit uncertain in play.
We need something from Saturday for sure, to take the pressure off.
Get there, be loud and stay with them for the 90 minutes.
Joys and Sorrows is a forum, onthemoney ;) try there.
Dan, part of the problem with all the vitriol is a guy like you, almajir who is usually so balanced, has decided to state – as HarborneBlue pointed out – that Lee Clark is a poor manager. This doesn’t add up with your suggestion that he needs our backing as he’s in an impossible situation. Either he’s poor and deserves the anger, or he’s doing his best and we need to get off his back. I am with the latter school of thought. Saturday is the acid test as you rightly said. We always seem to lose against teams who couldn’t win for toffee though. Football is increasingly about opinion, which doesn’t actually change much on the pitch. I just hope we can turn things around so we can all focus on league survival as our realistic target again, rather than knee jerk relegation fear because wet lost away to a superior side.
Kro
ime not gonna start slagging off individuals because i wouldnt know where to start,
sorry i am, novak and elliott should never start for blues again this season, why the
hell he continues with them is beyond me, as mike bassett said 4-4- f…..g 2 is what
we should play because thats the only formation these players know, zigic and green
upfront and murphy at left back, stop p…..g about clark and start playing that formation
and those players from saturday. our season starts against sheff. w. so get it right
and start the players the fans want cause then if it carrys on going wrong were all
useless and all to blame and all looking forward to league one next season.KRO.
The only formation they know is 4-4-2, yet come the end of last season Blues’ best formation was 4-5-1. I’m sorry if you want to slag off the team at least have a valid input.
People keep mentioning the second half of last season, how Clark eventually found a formation and players that clicked and produced some good performances (especially away.) That’s absolutely right…. but it took half the season to get it right after an exodus and influx of new players.
Well, fast forward to this season. After an exodus (mostly because of finances) and an influx of new players… lo and behold, it’s taking time to find a formation and players that will click. We’re only 7 games in.
Well put Dan, sums up the situation perfectly.
Clark did exactly the same beginning last season with his switching and changing but did eventually get it right.
He has to get it settled earlier this season or we could see us relegated by Christmas.
Hopefully, he will have Murphy, Ziggy and Asante available for Saturday which is now a must win game, we can’t afford to come adrift at the bottom and as Millwall showed, one win can lift you well up the table.
Sheffield Wednesday have not won yet this season but they have only lost 2 and drawn 4. They will not be a pushover as many seem to expect.
Though it is a hard pill to swallow but we have to have faith in LC and more importantly support the lads he puts out by getting behind them.
KRO
You would hope that getting the likes of Murphy and Zigic back will only improve matters.
Clark hasn’t been able to call on Murphy much since he became manager and Zigic, when he’s been fit, has (I think) played more regular under Clark than he ever did for McGinger and Hughton. So there’s two things to look forward to at least. If both are fit for Saturday, they could make a huge difference.
Relatively poor manager! That’s an understatement
Effing useless would be more apt description.
Still Sheffield Wed on Saturday see what the muppet comes up with this game, I’m all for backing the team and pulling together I just wish people would pull there heads out the sand and acknowledge the fact he is useless and stop making excuses for him
Bob, it might not have grabbed your attention but this isTHIS season not last season,
4-5-1 was ok towards the end off last season but weve got diffrent players now and
4-5-1 aint workingTHIS season so wheres your valid input, i was there last night was
you? i can slag off whoever i want to because i go to MOST games home amd away
and more aware of the problems than most ” FANS ” on here ok! KRO.
I posted on SHA a few months back a simple song line….
“If I hadn’t seen such riches,
I could live with being poor”.
I think a major problem at stans is most of the old sckool fans thirty-five and upwards have seen
all this before,and are almost looking at the situation with a wry grin,seen it before and up for the fight… Knowing we will come through it.
Our younger fan base however have only seen in blues eyes relativly good times of cup finals,promotions and bouncing back straight away,even when things did go wrong.
It’s how they react that worry s me….with blues it usually ends in trouble.
It’s not about results anymore or even the manager or players…they will come and go,it’s about the thing other than our family’s that we hold closest to our heart BCFC.
Keep right on and all that.
I,m amazed at some people being surprised at last nights result! I do not in anyway blame the players we have as they are doing their best. I do not blame LC either as he has NOTHING to work with !
The blame lies fairly and squarley at Yeungs and Pannus door as its those two who have sold any player with a single ounce of ability so as to ensure their Cash Cow is still paying them !! and replaced them with 5th degree nobodies , all free (except Caddis ) wow 150k paid !!
Dont even think we are going only to Div 1 next season !! oh no all you fans, ( and I include myself along with them too) we are in freefall, and always will be, as we are well on our way to being at best, a conference club while we have the chinese there !! Wake up, smell the coffee and STOP giving those two idiots any money, and perhaps they will HAVE to walk away empty handed !!! !!!
Mike, I agree with you. Pannu is raking money off, as shown by the published accounts, and the sale of assets has been made to reduce the owner’s losses on their overblown purchase price. As you say, and I have said for a long time, under the current owners, with their sole desire being to reduce their losses, we are going to slide down the divisions. Attending matches and paying Pannu and BIHL money only encourages them to hang on. What is being put out onto the pitch at the moment is not a Blues’ team, it’s a bunch of players wearing blue shirts who have been cynically hired from the fringes of the lower parts of the professional footballing world.
As Mike says, stop giving them money. Do something positive; dry up the cash cow. It’s pointless talking about banners inside the ground. Don’t pay to go in: stand outside with banners and let the stadium be empty.
Complaining about Lee Clark is also pointless; the owners aren’t going to sack him. I’ve not been a fan of his from the start but he has a hopeless job under the circumstances. What worthwhile manager would want to take the job as things stand?
The only way to keep right on at the moment is to take a reality check about where we are heading. Facing that fact then leads to action to oust the owners as soon as possible, regardless of what plight the club is reduced to. The fact is that we are going there anyway; we will just get there more quickly but with the benefit of being rid of BIHL and the rapacious Pannu.
With the power of Blues fans’ support, we can then begin the process of regeneration and get the club back from whatever position it has fallen to. As I have said before, if Wimbledon fans can start from scratch in the parks and achieve football league status in ten years then the power of Blues fans’ passion can pull our club up again, and it is not likely that we will be starting at parks level. We need to get free of the BIHL regime as soon as possible in order to regain a club that we can identify with, believe in and which is worthy of the passion which is there for it. That condition doesn’t exist at present; there is nothing to support.
I have to say after 40 years of supporting the Blues I struggled last night to even raise a hint of hope for the future, my dad who’s in his 80’s has seen it all before and keeps telling me the good times will come back but its so hard at the moment to raise hope at all
I like all other fans believe we can achieve greatness again but its the when and how I’m really struggling with
Our players are not that bad surely not, yes we’ve changed many of them but to play as a professional footballer in itself tells you that are of a certain standard but it seems the standard we are at is woefully below where they should and need to be
I’m going doen against Swansea not because they are a premier league team but because I want to see my team win a game and I believe this is a winnable game for us again not sure how or why yet but my fingers are crossed
You should always in my view stick with a game plan for every game and play your best team – can anyone tell me what either of these are currently with our team as I’m still not 100% sure what they are…..
Tone1963. Been supporting Blues for 44 years myself and I too have seen it all before. When we were scrapping around in the old 3rd division, we could never have imagined finishing 9th in the 1st Division (now the premier) and winning the League Cup. And in my time, I’ve seen a lot worse players than we have now. So, I hope I can be forgiven a wry smile. :)
Well said. When we get beaten 3-0 at Torquay, again, perhaps my lowest day as a blues fan, we can teally have a moan! Lets hope this a blip and we don’t get relegated. Some guys need to step up and one of them is Zigic. With Murphy, Caddis, Burke, Feguson, Burn, and Randolph we have a pretty useful bunch of players. KRO
Nah…the real lowest point was the 3-0 reverse at home to Cambridge in the same season when were completely outplayed in front of 7,000 – we’ve still not hit the bottom yet….I remember Cambridge fans singing at us “You’re not famous anymore….”
Altrincham?
It is understandable we should be fuming, because according to reports Birmingham were a sorry sight to watch and this comes just after Harry Redknapp was left purring over the way Blues played at QPR! Beggars belief. To be honest I can see Zigic getting a heroes welcome if he plays on Saturday, I am certainly no manager or tactition but I firmly believe, especially in this division, Birmingham should be playing a 442 system with recognised strikers.
rumours of simon church of reading joining us ….. a goalscoring record of 1 in 5 … not good enough ????
You sure it wasn’t Charlotte Church?
I think the 3-4-3 will work for us, but we have to get the strikers scoring. Let’s face it, it doesn’t matter a damn what formation we play, or what players we do or don’t play…… if we can’t put the ball in the net, none of that really matters.
Surely, in training, the players must be hitting the back of the net, or they wouldn’t even get near the first team. So why can’t they do it in an actual game? It’s not as though they haven’t had the chances. Get that right and it will all click into place I believe.
They can score as many goals as they like in training, they are competing against our own standard of defenders……..
Should’ve gone with an experienced manager, please don’t tell me LC was the only choice. The lure of a big club like BCFC is always going to be a good USP. An experienced manager with good contacts and an excellent record of the loan market would keep you up no problems. LC is a good talker, desperate to be liked and superlicious. He signed 48 players for us (incl Novak) and 3 were decent. Pilkington, Peltier and Rhodes. His use of the loan market was appalling, his tactics startling, and defensively inept. Luckily we had a chairman that sold a lot of tatty xmas cards otherwise we’d be in L2 under his stewardship. This is the real world now Lee, you are just not up to it. I sincerely hope you stay up, but you need to make one of the only changes open to you. And quickly
Desperate reading,this is exactly why i used to come on here & bang the drum for Billy Davies,too late now though,we will just have to continue with what we have,which,in all honesty,is not very good.
The transfer market does seem to be ran on similar levels to a lucky dip.
OMG the 4-4-2 boys are out again ….
This isn’t Subuteo, the players are allowed to move you know ..
Imagine we are attacking / defending …
Are the 4 allowed to ‘push on’ .. / 2 go back ??
What utter piffle .. !
Lee Clark is a tremendous manager and will be even better for these experiences.
He is trying to find a ‘formula’ for each match, quite reasonable and he will learn from it.
Not sure about some of the fans though !
It took him 3/4 of last season to find a formula ??
3 home wins in a Callander year ??
Yeah what a winner. Lee Clark for England
Frankie, not being funny mate, but your postings are rather patronising. As “mere mortals” we bow to your superior football knowledge, tell us oh great one – what formula should Blues be playing??
On a serious note, I’m prepared to defend Clark becuase of the awful hand he’s been dealt – but to refer to him as an “excellent manager” – is this another test oh mighty one??
Fletch. Church will make Novak look prolific. Lazy, overweight and slow plus can’t be arsed. At least Novak tried
I have been more supportive than most about Lee Clark this season. I am not going to start slagging him off now. But I will try to be objective. I think a team with:
Randolph- top goalkeeper
Caddis- one of the best in the division
Burn – a sound player, playing well.
Burke- one of the top right wingers
Robinson- not my cup of tea, but people have been complimentry this season.
Ferguson- an undoubted class player
A shortlisted Scottish PFA player of the year, An experienced campaigner in Elliot, a decent player in Bartley
We should not actually be quite where we are. I have no expectations of play offs, but do think he needs to be geting more from the players than he is. At the moment, I think Lee Clark needs to stick to a plan, but I think we should be doing a little better than we are. Having said that, it is a battle of the teams around us we need to win- so believe it or not, I think there will be a good performance to put things right on Saturday.
If the players have any eighteen pence, they’ll know that if they don’t start winning and picking up some points, they’ll lose the support of a lot of fans. Who knows how we’ll end up then.
Have not been to any games this season due to work commitments. There is a lot of talk about needing a striker who can score goals.
No matter how good a striker you are, you need the service to score goals or make chances . Are the current strikers missing chances or not being given the opportunities?
So if Zigic returns , or a new striker is found will they get the service they need to score the goals?
Clark has won 3 (Three) league home games this calendar year.
That includes a period when he had Redmond, Davies, Morrison etc at his disposal.
It is an absolute appaling record at any level of football.
Does Carson know if you go to league1 there’s even less money I ask? next season there’s NO para money, No players left to sell, so what is he going to do
Us BLUES FAMILY should Sing Loud and Proud to let the world know who we really are?
Support the team who really needs us, ITS NOT CLARKS FAULT, KRO
Tracy, next year there is parachute money, it’s 8 million as per this season.
They won’t leave till this payment stops or admin catches them out.
Good Call!
staffs, your like me mate, you can go back all those years and remember when times were
worse than they are now and thats true, but i love your optemism that once we start scoring
it will all click into place, well it better start pretty soon otherwise were be going back to
those worse times of third division football, agreed weve seen worse blues teams but the
end product of a goal is getting worse not better so keep praying! KRO.
You have to stay positive dave, or what’s the alternative? You just end up being a moaning old git. I don’t want to get like that, so, I’m hoping for an upturn in fortunes soon. I’m no fool, I know things are bad, but there’s nothing we can do until the Chinese are gone… except support the manager and players and (as you said) pray for better times.
I keep hearing about Clark not having the players to compete in this league, may I remind you half of this side have played in the premiership.
The players avialable are good enough to ensure survival,at least 12 place i would expect ,its all down to the manager he is im afraid not good enough.Right from day 1 I have been consistent about that. The frustrating thing is we cant replace him we cant afford to, he will never resign
so we just have to plod on until we get new owners.
There is no doubt the main problem is the owners as has been said they couldnt care less,Pannu is happy picking up his dosh why should he care about anything else.
Having said that Clark is a big problem too he doesnt have a clue, different formations every game, players out of position and Novak ,whats his angle with Novak is he trying to boost his confidence by playing him continually even when the bloke is clearly struggling?. Because if he is I have news for him what he is in fact doing is destroying him.
Novak is not a touch player, not really a bustling centre forward type, not a goalscorer, hes a worker a runner he chases lost causes, thats it. He should be taken out of the firing line now for his own sake.
Sheff wed really is the crunch match if we dont win that then everything else maybe too late.
Tony
We had some run ins last season when I was defending LC
But you were right from day one mate he is not fit to manage our club
If Lee Clark was spending and wasting the boards money then he should expect any negative responses and even the sack. But come on, what has this guy spent? Do not blame the manager or his players for the situation Birmingham are in, and don’t forget, a 10 point deduction will come as no surprise at some point, through administration for the club or BIHL It is this parent company and the arrest of Carson that has plunged the club into this apathy state. The non-sale of the club, and there have been bidders, has hindered everything the club needs to do to move forward, on and off the pitch. You cannot have a decent football club being run like it is, invisible board members, selling your better players, its just downhill, anyone with a brain cell will acknowledge this. SELL THE FOOTBALL CLUB
I wonder how many managers have had less to spend than Lee Clark. You’d probably have to go down the leagues to find them.
We are back to the kumar days, you can’t say any different, poor players, sell sell sell, shit side, and a manager trying to lift players who aren’t good enough, not ours, or are leaving at the end of the season, Clark doesn’t do himself any favours whatsoever and in honesty I’d hope that if or when we ever get bought put he’ll be f*cked off, but I respect the guy for putting up with this situation, hughton was soon gone, not many managers would still be at bcfc right now, the club is in a right mess
Guys it is indeed dark days!!. I do think Clark has been dealt a bum hand and its not an easy role but I also believe other managers in our division have had similar constraints and have faired better than Clark, I think Burnley and Blackpool have spent little and are doing o.k…I may be wrong?.
Clark’s tactics do surprise me at times, we played well against QPR,so why go and juggle it again?….crazy.I just think he is out of his depth slightly,thrashing around looking for answers to
a difficult question.
Anyway the next three home games are the Litmus test for me. We will know if there is any hope by mid october. I really could write an essay about the issues we have but the truth is there is no way out until the owners decide enough is enough…..when that will be god only knows.
KRO
These are probably the darkest days we have ever endured, simply because there is no light at the end of the tunnel for the foreseeable future.
Burnley and Blackpool along with most other teams in this division have not had to change 10 or 11 players, therefore are not going through the gelling period.
We could have done with all the players doing a Randolph and hitting the ground running, alas that has not happened.
The main problem now is lack of goals, we have been creating chances but we are lacking that killer pass or bit of inspiration, even the manager admits to this as a problem.
We were out played last night, probably the first time this season, and totally exposed for our lack of experience in years, but Burnley are a good team and I think will be in the mix come May.
No manager would stick around as LC has done under the circumstances he faces, Bruce, Mc Judas and Chris Hughton all walked because they recognized the writing was on the wall, Lee Clark came in knowing the situation, though he probably did not expect it to get worse than it was.
Give the guy some slack, he is still learning and will come out of this a better manager that some club will benefit, hopefully it will be us, though I was extremely critical of LC from the off I admire him for his aptitude and loyalty.
We, the supporters, should show the same loyalty and get behind both LC and the team of players who are in the least, fighting for the badge on the shirt of Royal Blue.
Like many supporters on here, I am old school, seen the great times, Fairs Cities Finals v Barcelona and Roma respectively, League cup winners over two legs v the vile, and the lows, Division 3, beaten by Non-League Altrincham and Ken Wheldon selling everything including the kitchen sink.
As a club and as the song goes, “Things can only get better”.
We, as supporters, are the ones who will still be here long after our Chinese owners have left. Managers, like players come and go, always have, always will. The stalwarts of any club are the supporters, at Blues, we are not glory hunters, but we have always been die-hard, honest and loyal.
Staffs Blue. He couldn’t do it when he did have the money. £5 million he spent. Still couldn’t get us out of the crappy Third Division. With that budget !!!
marky mark and tony, it hates me to say this but ime now having very serious doughts
over clarks management, ive backed him till recently but ime loosing my patience with
him very quickly with team selection and formation, his arms are tied i know but does
he have to tie the legs off the players aswell, sorry but new owners new manager
when ever that will be, no other way out ime afraid, sorry clark lovers! KRO.
I think the next 3 homes games will be the crunch. If we don’t see, at least, 7 points from the 3 matches… I will agree, that maybe it’s time for change. That doesn’t mean I think the manager is crap, because I don’t… but the circumstances are. I have far more respect for Lee Clark than any of the managers who have cut and run from us in recent years.
But, it must be demoralising for any manager in these circumstances, especially when all your best players are sold and you’re told you have 35 bob to replace them. So you do that, you eventually get them playing well, when they’re all got rid of again… but this time, you’ve only got 15 bob to spend.
It’s like going from shopping at Sainsbury’s to shopping at Nettos. You have to buy non-brands to try to make your food last the whole week. How Clark has kept going I don’t know.
Staffs , Listen to B’ham Terrier above Clark couldn’t cut it for Hudderfield in League One with a large budget.
He couldn’t cut it last year with a good Birmingham squad in a poor Championship seasonWhen relegation was always more likely than reaching the play offs.
All the evidence sadly points to LC not being a very good manager.
We cant afford to sack him, & equally we can’t afford to keep him.
So, your answer to the problem?
I have absolutely the same feedback from a Huddersfield fan who I deal with at least once or twice a week.
Lee Clark in my opinion probably has only a few games (maybe even one game?)to save himself and sort it out. Consistent tactics, team selection with each player knowing his exact role and a removal of his scattergun approach ought to be an obvious one. I do believe if we lose badly by a high margin on Saturday he will be gone. I want us so to win and play with passion and pride though and be organised.
Sack him & put you into a Caretaker Coach role …..because honestly you couldn’t be any worse
Blueboy 88 . You are a numpty. We only just missed the playoffs. So in a season where “When relegation was always more likely than reaching the play offs.” we must have done quite well.
We had a decent second half of last season but were hardly playoff contenders, more like avoiding the relegation places before Christmas with a side that still had some quality. I cant see how Lee Clark can be congratulated on that. It was ok, nothing special in terms of achievement. In reality there was more opportunity for improvement.
If we’d clicked just 4 or 5 games earlier last season, who knows where we would be now. Hopefully, it might happen sooner this season. I’m not daft enough to say we’ll reach the play offs, but top half (12th again?) would be acceptable considering the circumstances.
We finished 12th – 7pts from relegation.
For most of the season we were closer to the relegation zone than the play offs.
Take your blue tinted specs off ..
Blueboy 88. How right you are. We finish 12th on 61 points. Funny how you do not mention that we were 7 points off the playoffs!. This negativity ain’t going to help the team.
Exactly. Considering the squad which he had, assembled with pitifully low resources, Lee Clark did well to get the team to finish where it did. It represented an overachievement. I’m not a Lee Clark fan but give him some credit. No worthwhile manager is going to come to the club at the moment.
Perhaps the reason for the rise of the boo-boys is not the football but the feeling of betrayal due to how CY and PP have shafted the club and fans. The issue of PP’s remuneration further adds to the anger.
The point that the boo-boys are missing is that the constant criticism serves only to demotivate the players, which will result in more poor results. Most of us must have had a poor manager who continually criticises and berates you. All this type of management does is to demotivate you. I don’t believe this is any different for our players. It can be no coincidence that our away performances have been better than our home. We need up beat versions of Keep right on to be sung, not the latest slow and melancholy version or perhaps some up beat songs about our players. All of this could lift morale and help our players. Sining about not caring about Carson won’t help the players.
My last point is that I agree entirely with Mac. Seven games is not long enough to sort out the new team that Lee Clarke has put together. Back the team. KRO
I think you will find, Zigic apart, that Burnley and Blackpool players are on a little more money than those at Birmingham. Also they have owners who run their clubs properly. They are in a different world right now to that of Birmingham.
Andy I stand corrected and of course I totally understand the predicament we are in. I still think Clark is average at best…but he does have a tough job,as I have said. The whole situation is a messy.
historicly andy, with there historys they propably are in a diffrent world, cant argue.KRO.
I have been watching with horror what has been happening with our club over the last two years.
However, with regards to this season I am not willing to write us off completely as relegation fodder just yet. The performance against QPR does gives us hope that this team are able to play some football at least – and I think with Zigic back and a bit more faith placed in Green (by the manager) we may well indeed start to score.
For whatever reasons the team don’t seem to have it in them to play well 3 days after a big match – I hope this trend doesn’t continue because there will be plenty of occasions where midweek games occur. This saturday is definitely a big game for us – we need to get right behind the players and give them as much support as possible….
Sadly, if offered it I would take 4th from bottom now. Avoiding relegation is the best outcome we can hope for whilst CY is in charge. decent strikers cost money than we can afford and its obvious now that Clark doesn’t fancy Green as the solution. The best we can hope for is that Zigic stays fit and a rabbit out of the hat in the loan market upfront.
There is a possibility that Clark has seen Green struggling and doesn’t want to demoralise the player. They could be working on him in training, trying to get him up to a level where he feels comfortable. Who knows? I don’t, neither does anyone else outside the club.
The only positive thing we can take out of last night is the introduction of Reece Brown. Uniteds Lingard keeps popping up in the media so maybe there is something in the pipeline, as angry and despondent as we are, its important we support the team and hope an inspiration in the form of Zigic the kid Brown, Asante, Koby and maybe even Lingard can turn things around on the pitch.
The main priority is a goalscorer. But everyone knew that when King had to be let go. We all thought we’d struggle for goals and that’s been proved right. No surprises there. But what kind of decent goalscorer are we going to get for our tuppence halfpenny?
Imo, we also desperately need someone, preferrably with experience and a calm head, who will sit in midfield and help out the players around him. As far as I’m aware, we don’t have that kind of player in the squad…. and haven’t really had since Savage left (Bowyer maybe.. N’Dau in patches.) Where’s Papa when you need him?
I was at both QPR and Burnley games and LC only made 1 change to the team.
Ambrose (who was awful) in place of Shinnie.
The other change was due to too many yellow cards for Robinson (some of which he
got through reckless decisions during previous matches)
We certainly missed him last night.
I do not know why Ambrose was selected, maybe Shinnie had a slight injury!!!!!
Gone are the days when footballers played with stiches in wounds etc.
Elliot’s passing was abysmal last night but he bossed the game against QPR.
LC can only put out a team of 11 fit players that are at his disposal.
If those players do not turn up en masse he can only change 3 of them during the game.
In my opinion only 3 payers turned up last night.
Randolf, Adeyemi and Burke.
I just hope and pray that we can muster enough points to keep us in this division
this season, and that the HK mafia eventually sell to an owner that has
BCFC’s interests at heart.
LC is not the best manager by a long way, but he is our’s at this moment.
We should all be backing him and the team through these troubled times.
I deal a lot with Aviva and despite the Norwich background, the main business support office is in Sheffield. And guess what ? My Business Development Manager is a Huddersfield fan. His views on Lee Clark are similar to mine but his are based on more experience. He say that he is the ultimate Tinkerman, never knowing who is best team consists of from match to match, that players are baffled because they don’t know what their tactics will be or who they will be playing alongside from week to week, that he leaves players out that he falls out with at the training ground, even if they play brilliantly on match days and his signings are appalling. Huddersfield did well because the chairman had big pockets and now Lee Clark is being found out.
If we lose on Saturday, money or not, the owners need to remove him. He must only have a few weeks to learn from his mistakes, to get the basics right, tactics, consistency and players who know their roles, and who they will be playing with. Lets hope he does change and very quickly. I think if he gets that right we could stay up and compete just above the relegation zone.
Otherwise, without change (Lee Clark to change or a new Manager to change things) we are going down without a fight.
ive been sayimg all along that you wont get a goalscorer for 10 bob and you wont get
a savage or bowyer or ferguson or damien johnson for 10 bob so were just have to
stop blabering on about it and get on with what weve got and try to stay in this
division cause thats all weve got to look forward to but then again we are use to it
arent we! KRO.
We have been saying for four seasonsn *when is Ziggy coming back?*.
I think Murphy owes us a season too. He’s a cracking full back, but one who has only put in one full season in 4. Those two could be massive for us this season…. or not.
if those two dont work then its lights out and see you all in league one next season,
cant see any other way out! KRO.
Look if the players have an issue with Lee Clark im sure we would hear about it. The outgoing players, Ravel Morrison in particular, had nothing but good to say about Clark. Until otherwise we shouldn’t suggest there is a problem in that respect irrespective of what a Huddersfield supporter may say. As for tinkering with the team, most managers do that because as they say, its a squad game now, but im sure once Clark finds the right formula and someone starts hitting the back of the net, he will keep faith with the team selection, he stated that himself. What other club could drop out of the Premiership the same season as winning the League Cup, sell every single player since then that could command a fee, patch up the squad with loans and youngsters, have owners that are as secretive as the Coventry City owners, look where they are? and expect anything more than what we are at the moment? Lee Clark is steering a ship with one hand tied behind his back and a great big gaping hole in the side and the ship is sinking.
I think, as soon as we start scoring, you’ll see a settled side and formation. If we weren’t scoring and he wasn’t trying to do something about it, people would still get on his back. At the end of the day, if we finished top 10, people would still want him out. So he can’t win really.
Sadly, these Clark ‘naysayers’ are probably the very same ones who booed and criticised Damien Johnson and Cameron Jerome.
God I wish we had Cammy and Damien at the club now.
“Sadly, these Clark ‘naysayers’ are probably the very same ones who booed and criticised Damien Johnson and Cameron Jerome.”
…. and Gold/Sullivan/Gold/Brady.
No thank you
I’d only see Jerome back if he was played as a winger. Pretty decent winger, definitely not a striker.
I went to the game last night, we were awful !!
I think most people who went would agree, If we continue to play like that ,we won’t be in the championship next season.
Ambrose and Novak were very poor .
On that performance I hope Zigic is back at the week end because at the monent he is our only hope.
Clarks league record is frankly appalling.
P53/W16/D17….lost 20.
He continues to make the same mistakes and his flirtation with the local press on occasions is embarrassing.The Huddersfield fans predicted correctly what his style of management was and they are spot on.
He’s quite simply out of his depth and resigning would be the honourable thing to do.If he doesn’t resign he should be fired or the club should negotiate a leaving package based on his performance.Alternativley let him sue us for breech of contract or demote him to a job he can cope with -he will soon clear off then.
“What is a club in any case?” “Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it. “It’s not the television contracts, get-out clauses, marketing departments or executive boxes.” “It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city.”“It’s a small boy clambering up stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his father’s hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him and, without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love.”
F**k clark F**ck pannu and yeung I’ll be there till my dying day cus all I care about is BCFC
I do agree with your sentiments. It is no good at all having a go at the manager of the players. The real fact is that some of the players may not be simply good enough at this level. However if this is not the case and they are it takes time to blend a time and it might be sometime before this bunch of players do evolve into a side. Time is not on the managers side, the Championship is every bit as cut throat as the Premier League, perhaps even more so!! The present situation has arisen simply because the owners are unable to or do not wish to pursue the development of the club. Sacking the manager as has been suggest is pointless, who in their right mind would take us on? We are a club [and have always been so] one with massive potential, one that would attract a manager with ambition but not oneat the moment who would risk his reputation. No, we simply have to stick with it until we are eventually sold. However I do believe it will get worse. I for one will not attend until the Chinese connection is severed, if if this means relegation. In fact to go into receivership would probably be the best for us, at least it might force a sale. It is as well to remember that we have been in a similar position before and we did come back to win trophies including of course the League Cup. This situation is simply another episode in the history of our club. It will survive, as it did Hitler, the Coombes and all the other disasters that have befallen us. We simply have to be patient.
Ok lets take a look at Garry Pendry’s record as manager, he was in the same boat as Lee Clark, how about the late John Bond? We certainly cannot compare Clark’s record to that of recent times, McLeish, Bruce, Francis, all had money to spend and solvent owners.
But Lee Clark isn’t helping his own cause, all he needs to do is to have consistent tactics, team selections and players knowing what they will be doing each week – their roles and responsibilities. Then having sorted out the basics become a bit nastier, with a “we will not lose” attitude. its not rocket science.
bully-beef-jnr, bang on with your assesment of what a club is, but would all the man.u., chelsea,
arsenal, man city and liverpool ” fans” who live in birmingham have that feeling of belonging and
pride in there city, do they hell, and thats where they should all piss off to cause there a
dissgrace to this city and the brummie culture, enough said cause it makes my blood boil.KRO.
No they wouldn’t but the way I see it is that’s there loss
Another thing which is not the fault of Clark. Both Lovenkrands and Ambrose have been picked recently to start games because they have produced in training but have looked poor in games against Ipswich and Burnley respectively. Those players should be asking themselves questions.
Absolutely bang on. In fact a lot of the players should, especially the experienced players. They’ve been here before, and should be helping the newer players out. But, just like last season, that’s not happening. Maybe it is time to bring on the kids.
unfortunately at the moment until proven otherwise it seems the only thing they are taking a long hard look at is the calendar for when the next pay cheque goes in.
mentioned it already but take a look at Kaka at Milan declining his pay until he is fit to play again.
Andy on the contary that is just another LC balls up.
When he did have some funds for players & wages , he bought Lovenkrand, Ambrose & Mullins to the club . They are his players under performing , the blame once again sits firmly at his door ?
bully-beef-jnr
you sound like your very young, got a proud blue heart, probly first time you’ve gone through this pain, Ive supported blues for 43 years and in the 90s Barry Fry era was the loudest support I have ever heard down at ST ANDREWS mexicon wave etc and we was in div 3 it looks like we might have to go through it again im just hoping the crowd will support the team, badge etc again
Those were rocking days….. When we scored, old Barry used to run down the touchline, slapping hands with all the supporters… then again on the way back. Looooong before Mourinho’s antics.
We were a ragbag bunch, but bloody exciting at times.
with the exception of winning the cup and European away trips some of my fondest memories being a blues fan for a fledgling 30 years were the likes of Exeter away on a cold wet rainy evening but you have to be a gluton for punishment to be a Blues fan anyway.
Not that young my first game was a 4-0 hammering by Luton in the days of crissy whyte stood on the kop hearing about what the kumars had done to us my support never waived since its a shame that social media gives the new breed of fan a voice that trys to bring us all down. All I see on here is clark this Clark that yet it the pubs b4 the games you dont here it. Which leads me to believe non of these moaners even go down
Bully beef, you are unbelievable..It wasn’t the Kumars who put us in the shit, it was the previous two Boards. The Kumars paid out money for players, but they couldn’t do any more because their bank went bust. Learn your history.
Unbelievable! !! Well I’m sorry I was 5 at the time b4 the kumars chas and wasn’t fully clued up on our owners. All I can go on is what I was told and I still hear the same now “the kumars this and that ” plus the most common quote at the minute “we’re returning to the dark days of the kumars” I didn’t realise they were that good!!!!
Lets get one thing clear Clark is in a terrible predicament but he knew this when he took over. Even in such a state with no financial backing, a dwindling squad and crowd he is till being paid to pick the best team available and get the best he can from those individuals. I do not believe that anyone can suggest he is achieveing those things. His ramblings in the press at times smack of a man who’s desperation is outweighing any clarity of thinking.
You cannot continue to pick different formations based on a whim and bring in players who are previously ‘in the cold’ (i.e Lovenkrans, Ambrose) on the basis that they had one good training session? Where is the consistency in selection and how can players have the slightest clue whether they are going to be rewarded by performance or not. Unfortunately I think it has all the signs of a mananger out of his depth and striving to find something that works, I hope for all of our sakes that he stumbles upon it soon. I wish him well because like it or not we are uneasy bedfellows for theforeseeable future.
We all know that administration and a new owner or a sale is what is needed unfortunately it is not in the chinese mob’s interest to sell until such a point as Yeung goes down or is released.
We’ve been here before with the Kumars and we will survive it but we have to analyse the managers performance based on what he does have to work with and not what he doesnt in my opinion.
KRO
Absobloodylutely
yep staffs we were
gotta dissagree Tracy, the francis years during the 70s was unbelievable, the support then
25,000/ 28,000 every home game, the early naughties when we first got promoted to the
premier league, every home game nearly sold out 28,000/ 30,000 never stopped singing.
barry fry was a legend in his own right for peeing up the corner flags but the support
then imo wasent as loud as those two periods off our history but respect as always.kro.
I agree, that the best football at Blues (in my time of course) were the Francis years. No doubt about that. But we had some good times under Barry, the players and the football wasn’t so great of course, but still exciting at times.
Barry Fry’s tenure were absolutely wasted years. We made no progress; in fact we went backwards with his closure of the youth development set-up. I paid to watch football and got a clown. If that’s what you show appreciation for then we will probably get more f it in the future. Do you not want to support a proper football club where the entertainment is in the quality of the football being played?
Of course. But until better times come along, we’ll have to make do with what we’ve got.
Sorry – don’t agree with that. Yes he ballsed up in his third season – but don’t forget the team he built and won the second division championship also gave the eventual Premiership champions (Blackburn) a run for their money in the LC as well as taking Liverpool to penalties at Anfield. Fry bought back the feel good factor to St Andrews, which Frances (and later Bruce) were able to build on.
And he made the football interesting/
Sorry I don’t agree with that. The season we went up under Barry Fry was one of the best I can remember in over 40 years of being a Blues fan. Loads of goals (I think 100+ in all competitions), 20,000 crowds in the old Third division. Winning the Auto Windscreens at Wembley with 60,000 Blues fans there. Going up as champions at Huddersfield. He lost the plot in the last season but I will never forget the promotion season.
If he was so good, then why did we fall into the old 3rd division with all the resources at his disposal? The closing of the youth set-up was a disaster for the development of the club and his player acquisition was risible, leading to a squad of about seventy wasn’t it? Steve Claridge described the scene in training with a swarm of blokes coming up over the hill at Elmdon as being like a scene from ‘Zulu’!
neil, i wouldnt say that you have to be a gluten for punishment to be a blues fan, its an
absolute honour and privelage to represent my club and city especially on a wet day
in exeter, hartlepool or wherever so i dont see it as a burden,, ok results do matter but
theres nothing like being a blues fan and wouldnt swap the punishment for nothing.KRO.
I was full of hope for this season not to get into the top 6 but hopefully mid table alas it seems Clarke has made some bad choices in his signing other managers in simalar situations have done better.
He has to be judged on results
The Team we have at present are very average in this division
Until the NEW AGE arrives at St andrews lets just hope we survive and stop up
Its becoming very hard to keep the faith it is a sad time for such a great club
wearynose, i like your style say what you think mate, brilliant, respect! KRO.
On a good note, Amari’i Bell, on loan at Nuneaton, has played in 7 of their 9 games and not been on the losing side once (5 wins and 2 draws.) Nuneaton are top of the conference at the moment. Well done to the lad.
Staff’s, regarding earlier comment, on hard to find other clubs spending less on transfers:
Doncaster 100k
Brighton 0k
Burnley 0k
Charlton 0k
Ipswich 60k
Millwall 0k
Yeovil 0k
2 other clubs 0k except for 3 undisclosed fee’s between them
Blackpool 600k
sheff wed 400k
Cheers for that Chris.
Goodness ‘Danny in Devon’ with that brand of optimism, you must be EXPECTING to win the lottery on EVERY draw.
Always good to be optimistic but seriously, as someone said earlier .. if they offered me 19th in August I’d have took their hand off.
Do think we’ll stay up but it was always going to be a close thing.
Just remember, there will be joys & sorrows to
I,ve followed the Blues for well over 30 years now and I have been struggling to think of a more abject performance, its been a long time coming but while the current management setup is in place including Clarke I will not be spending any more hard earned money at the club, I pay to watch decent football not a bunch of incompetent idiots, I have seen better from the local school team than I saw last night.
Great blog and I will keep up with news but I cannot justify spending money on crap like that
So many happy clappers on here, perfect fans who don’t m
have I called you names mate, no, so leave the name calling out of it , I haven’t disrespected yours or any one else opinion on here so I believe I am entitled to state my position and after 30 years of loyal support week in and week out I am more than entitled to call time of giving money to Pannu and co
I pay my money to bcfc and will moan as much as I want, all the happy clappers can live in there perfect fan world, it’s not against the law to have an opinion on the manager all based on fact incidentally, just because you don’t agree based on circumstances at the club doesn’t make you a better fan.
I don’t agree with abusing him during the game or the players and never would
I respect your views, just like everyone else’s and would never rubbish anyone else’s views. I may disagree with another posters views, but I never make personal insults. By the same token, I don’t think anyone who disagrees with you should be called happy clappers. We’re all Blues fans and we all have differing views… that’s what makes this blog worth reading. Otherwise, this place would be as boring as most of the others. Cheers.
BlueBoy, I certainly wasn’t complaining when Birmingham signed Lovenkrands, Ambrose or Mullins, I don’t think many were, also wasn’t they all signed on a Bosman? No fees were paid, so for one, he didn’t spend and two, nobody complained about these signings because they are proven players. Its they who have let the manager down and the supporters. For all their experience they look poor, but not in training! Like I said, those three should question themselves, not us questioning Lee Clark.
Ambrose was around £800k
250k actually
cheers
Your absolutely right the players do have a huge responsibility in all this.
Professional pride if nothing else…
But Clark employed them, coaches them, & motivates them, so the buck stops with him.
Also there was a fee paid for Ambrose circa £250k I think ?
But if they give their all in training, considering their age, what do they have left in the tank on matchday.
Also he goes on about home grown players, youth and energy then Hancox and Reilly haven’t had a look in this season.
There names haven’t been picked out of his magic hat yet
Chris, Hancox has been injured so far and has recently come back to full fitness. I like Reilly a lot, but he looked a bit lightweight against Plymouth. It was his pass that opened them up for the first goal, but they bullied him off the ball quite a lot. I’m sure his time will come again soon.
King signs for Sheffield Utd
Thats what you get with new Arab owners bank rolling your club :-)
Lee Clark does have a very tough job indeed with his limited budget for transfers and wages and I don’t like to kick a man when his down but he has made some poor decisions. When you have no money every decision you make has to be the right one. LC has made some good ones as well he has brought in Shane Ferguson, Dan Burn, Paul Caddis, Randolph who are all decent players on relatively low wages. However he has also brought in Hayden Mullins, Lovenkrands, Ambrose and Shinnie on big wages. Your failure to success ratio in the transfer market when your a club with very little money has to be around 90 – 10 or 80 – 20. LC is not achieving this in my view. As for tactics we have played 3 different formations this season. We need to settle on one, hope to stay injury free and get a settled side.
422. The wife and I were there bang behind the goal in the Jimmy Mac. It’s a good job the meat and potato pies are served quickly.
We’re missing a goalscore who can lead the too. Don’t recall Novak holding the ball for teammates
Bring back Forsell wherever he is ! ok clark cant sign players for cash but neither can the coventry manager but he seems to be doing ok and they are in a bigger mess than us !!
I can’t help but think we are relegation certainties. It’s no good saying I’m negative I just look at the facts. Until the Chinese connection is severed we will never be successful. What I am positive about is we WILL rise with new owners asi can assure you there are people waiting in the wings. I only hope they get a chance!!
Birmingham had not played too badly up until last night and all that seems missing is quality in the box. I didn’t realise a fee was paid for Ambrose so I apologise for that, but still everyone seemed happy with the signing. Zigic has looked good in training and as we all saw, scored a wonder goal for the Development side. Still it was only a game on the training pitch, can he repeat that in the first team? The guy is a £6 million player, on £65,000 per week and an international. That alone should warrant a start every game in this league and he should be the leader to help turn the fortunes of the team around.
No he WAS valued at £6 million by some pillock who vastly over valued his worth. You wouldnt get rid of him on a free now.
Al – is there any chance of getting in a few youngsters from PL clubs? Read rumours of Lingard from Man U on loan. Some younger players with higher quality up top could sounds like what is needed…
I’ve never agreed with ideas of protests as I feel the team may suffer. However we can’t go on not doing anything about it. I feel fans should BOYCOTT BOLTON, the live game, and let’s start hitting Carson and Pannu in the pocket. The quicker we go in admin the better for me. Kro
I don’t believe that protests will do any good against our estranged owners, they can’t see them anyway. For them, it’s a case of close their eyes, stick their finger in their ears and go la la la.
But, if anything would possibly make them sit up and take notice, it might be a near empty stadium, being shown to thousands of people on tv. At least more than just Brummies would see it. But, would the loss of revenue on the gate be offset by the tv revenue? I don’t have have a clue myself.
Who wasted what little transfer budget we had at the start of last season on Ambrose, Mullins and Lovenkrands? All three of them have been a complete waste of money in terms of their considerable wages. We went from being a team that made the play offs comfortably to hovering above the relegation zone for all but the last three months of the season.
I gave up my season ticket this season after 20 years of having one because of the almost constant boring, drivel that was served up last season. He won’t go without a pay off so we are stuck with him. We have just got to hope there are three worse than us this season but that’s getting hard to do.
Theres that wonderful hindsight again, Shirley. None of us knew that Ambrose wasn’t going to do the business, tho I agree about Lovenkrands. He shouldn’t have been given the chance to sign for us after blowing his nose on us twice before.
We already had plenty of players around the 30 mark or over at the start of last season. We needed youth, pace and energy. He then changed his mind halfway through the season and declared we needed youth, pace and energy and finally started playing Redmond regularly among others. Yes, there is some hindsight in it but when you go back and analyse what happened, it doesn’t smack of joined up thinking, good planning and well thought out strategy does it?
Given Ambrose’s record I for one didn’t think that he would contribute anything. He has flattered to deceive and been injury prone all his ‘career’.
Just a thought…….
Our HIGHEST PAID footballer at the club.
Mr Zigic.
So far 95 apps……25 goals.
Maybe over 20 goals this season ?
Well he is a bosman at the end of the season ??
If gets his British passport by then.
The worry with Zigic is if and when his poorly back ever does get better will he be bothered? He knows he is going at the end of the season whatever happens and will almost certainly be going out of the UK. I can only hope he will be on the look out for another contract to finish his career though it will be a fraction of the ridiculous amount of money we have paid him for what we have had in return.
This is the team now, we cannot expect to achieve anything other than to avoid relegation. The only way to do this is to grind out draws and the odd win here and there. Were not that play-off chasing team anymore its hard to accept but its the truth The penny hasn’t dropped for a lot of fans fully yet, fans are getting angry and directing it at the players and manager because that’s all there is infront of them when deep down they know the anger is for the terrible twosome but we know they are out of the firing line. That day when the club is handed over to new owners however long it may be,will come and we can start again a fresh.
The club wont be sold until the last parachute payment is received.
Clarke is a good manager who is trying to find the right formation. We don’t have the dollar to get rid of him and find another manager even if we wanted too so let’s support the fella and the team. I’m so frustrated thinking every game that this ones the break through game!! I’m still waiting but I’m sure it will come…..
OK, if Lee Clark had his way, Jack Butland, Nathan Redmond and Curtis Davies would still be at the club, he wanted to build a team around these players but the carpet was pulled from under him by the board. It is impossible for any manager to be remotely successful at Birmingham under the present ownership, Hughton walked and McLeish was about to before villa came calling. Clark is a bright young manager and until he is in a position to have the tools to do his job people should back him and turn their anger on the board, its them that are destroying this great football club.
I’d hate to say it but I honestly think we are relegation certs. It will take a lot luck and grit through the season if we are to avoid it.
Fans need to get behind the team on Saturday, my team would be:
Randolph
Caddis, Bartly, Burn, Hancox
Burke, Spector, Shinnie, Ferguson
Zig & Green
Asanti & Koby Arthur off the bench for the 2nd half.
Throw caution to the wind
The end is nigh Woe Woe and thrice woe. How abou the season with less than 10thou attending near bottom of the league at new year and that was year desprate manager had to play all the youngsters including TF then we finished just missing promotion.There is so much time for this team to come good. Patience please.
Clark has a “Butterfly Mnagement Style” flittering from one decision to another.
It’s litte wonder we are struggling under his management.
Spot on Art. Whatever his footballing brain it’s clear he’s a confused thinker and a poor planner.
It would appear that,
* He doesn’t know what he wants,
* Has no systematic approach in going through variables (changes),
* Introduces too many different variables with no hope of evaluating their effects,
* Veers from over-hasty decisions to dilatory actions when crucially necessary (e.g subbing)
All this indecision, illogical change and sudden veering from tactic to tactic with no overall strategy leaves us fans totally bewildered – but for the players whose careers will be affected by all this, there must be a sad desperation that however hard they try, it ain’t gonna work.
Any organisation will eventually take on the character of its most influential leader. We have no influential leaders, so is it any surprise that confused and disheartened players fail to succeed, and supporters who value the battling spirit above all else, walk away from this scrappy, undirected team?
I don’t blame the players or the fans. This is all a direct result of failed leadership.
Surprised by your comments clark tractically out thought harry at QPr. But when luck is not with you…….
As I said on Twitter the other day:
What’s all this “must win on Saturday” cobblers? The game we MUST win is the one that keeps us in this league in May.
Everything else is superfluous whilst we have a financial constraint upon the club. The best we can hope for is a string of good performances over the season brought about by consistently fit, available and willing players being picked by LC when he’s in a position to choose his ideal 11. I don’t think he has had a chance to do that yet and at SEVEN GAMES IN we shouldn’t be panicking and neither should Bolton, who have an abundance of quality and no results to their name!
I will remain untaxed by 2013/14 season (and our possible plight) until we are mathematically unsafe and we are 3-4 months and a lot of games away from that position.
Having said all that I want to see Blues win and endeavour every week and I hope we start to get some results that we may deserve and – in true footballing fashion – some we don’t!
KRO
NB untaxed should read UNFAZED. Flipping auto correct!
Like it or not we have what we have.We will not have new owners in the near future,we will not have a new manager and if we do get any players during the next window they will not be household names.The situation is simple .Learn what its like to be a Blues fan.It was never meant to be easy. For the younger generations check out Kumar,Wheldon and those very unhappy days.One thing that does worry me though is that we supporters really do appear to be losing our Brummie Phlegm and sense of gallows humour.Yes its bad-it may get worse.Prepare yourselves for relegation and administration but keep smiling and stay Blue,there will be a future in some form or another.If you want me to stick my neck out it will be one division down with a local owner next year.kro
Administration? The owners are probably the worst we’ve ever had….. but are they that stupid? Time will tell.
Since our time in the sun the worlds changed… Social media now rules so a 16 year old boy on twitter showing support for his dad who is manager of a football club, can now get destroyed in public by some drunk idiot who never goes to games and knows nothing about the history of the club but can sit on the 11 bus on his mobile phone and slag the poor kid off.
Please don’t be fooled these people are trolls plain and simple just because u have a sotv tattoo on your knuckles and can sing keep right on’s chorus when u get arrested doesn’t mean your a blues fan. It was grim Tuesday and I wanted to write to the club and ask for my money back but that won’t help matters will it.
So I’ll see the proper noses on Saturday win lose or draw all the rest of the nonsense can stay at home on the internet make up takeover storys involving jasper carrot on forums and have a go at the managers son.. But make no mistake that’s in no way helping the team on the pitch !
Rant over
Hear hear!
I think Chris Burke has the ability to beat his marker but why is he so reluctant to centre the ball? His failing in this respect is partly responible for our lack of goals and I think a winger who won’t cross the ball might as well be sold.
hi all……..burke had better get his act together on saturday and whip that ball in FIRST TIME…also i hope ferguson is fit to play…because…..mark my words ZIGIC will come good on saturday….if he gets the service…………..
Patience is a virtue some fans lack
Being a bluenose is very special, something a viler or any other football fan would never understand…………if you know where i am coming from you will interested kro
*understand
Let’s hope that Chris Burke gets the idea that he is there to cross the ball on Saturday and maybe it might even become a habit. Hope springs eternal!