Pre Season Report

Today marked a positive end to pre-season for Birmingham City, with a much improved performance from previous games to take forward to next weekend when the 2013/14 Championship season kicks off.

And despite some lacklustre performances, overall pre-season for Blues has thrown up more positives than it has negatives.

Consecutive wins in our first two fixtures against Alfreton Town (3-1) and Shamrock Rovers (4-0) respectively, was followed by a behind-closed-doors match against MK Dons in Dublin where we suffered a 4-1 loss.

A 3-0 win back on English soil against Swindon, a 1-1 draw at the Kassam Stadium, home of Oxford United, and an unfortunate 4-2 loss against Shrewsbury concluded the away fixtures, before a 2-1 win against Hull City back at St. Andrew’s to round off the pre-season fixtures quite nicely.

But as anyone will tell you, pre-season isn’t about results, it is about the two Fs: formation and fitness, and in today’s 2-1 win against Premier League Hull we looked a much more polished team than a few days previously in the loss to Shrewsbury.

3-5-2 seems to be Lee Clark’s preferred formation and even though we looked somewhat unstable in games prior to today, the formation worked well against Hull: a side that were promoted using the same system last season.

The only real problem with this however is the defence getting caught out, with both Paul Robinson and Dan Burn not being blessed with pace – Burn getting caught out against Oxford last weekend frequently and subsequently giving away fouls. Thankfully today we looked much more solid, with the wing-backs tracking back as and when to give that much needed cover.


An overall positive pre-season. Image: BCFC.com

As for the fitness side, you could tell we were a couple of weeks ahead of Hull; we looked confident and composed both on and off the ball and chased them down into making several mistakes. We also passed the ball about impressively, which should give the team more confidence ahead of a tough opening fixture next Saturday.

In terms of the players themselves, it’s been all change since last season. A revolving door would have been useful (if we could afford it) with a host of players leaving the club as well as, thus far, eleven new faces arriving at St. Andrew’s in the form of either loans or free transfers.

Clark seems to have done some good business, however, on what can’t even be labeled as a shoe string budget. Andrew Shinnie has looked particularly impressive and is my stand out player of pre-season, but the likes of Matt Green, Neal Eardley and Scott Allan have all looked impressive too, and getting Shane Ferguson back on loan is a terrific move by Clark.

As for the state of the ownership of the club, I think anyone would be lying if they said it’s not affected what’s going on on the pitch: the Marlon King situation being a clear example of this, with both him and Peter Lovenkrands being forced to train and play with the reserves. Yet having being given squad numbers, I for one hope this means they will be involved in the team, especially King. No one is going to buy them, even on a free, so involving them in the team can only be a positive for us; we have to pay them the same wages, so we might as well be getting something in return.

Overall, as pre-seasons go it’s not been disastrous. It should be taken with a pinch of salt, as it’s not a great indication of how the real season will pan out; the constant chopping and changing of the players to make sure everyone gets enough minutes clearly brings about instability, however I expect the starting XI today to be more or less who starts against Watford.

Granted it could have been more inspiring on the whole, but today’s game was encouraging, and the real talking will be done next Saturday when the season begins, hopefully with more positives to talk about and most importantly a win.

Green scores in the 2-1 victory against Hull. Image: BCFC.com

A Win, A Draw and A Defeat

That's it. Relegation to League One beckons after a two nil defeat to Oxford United in a Pre Season game. Administration by the end of the week too by the sounds of it. That's if you believe the internet.

Fortunately, pre season doesn't determine where you finish at the end of the season, or what happens to your club. But read some of the negativity on the internet at the moment and that's what you'd be inclined to believe.

Admittedly, the situation we find ourselves in at the moment isn't the most flattering, and the extent of that situation will be discovered in tomorrow's Birmingham Mail in which Peter Pannu finally speaks out. Right now, I'd prefer to concentrate what's going on on the pitch - and although we are keeping up form and not being able to find the net, we seem to be getting rather close.

A strong side including Ben Foster back from illness travelled to Oxford this evening where Chris Hughton set his side out in a 4-4-2 formation. In front of a small crowed, Blues found their footing in the game fairly quickly, and began with chances for Keith Fahey and a hefty chunk of possession to boot.

Playing at a higher tempo to that of the weekend against Hereford, Blues were on top. Jordon Mutch had a great chance to put his side into the lead when Akwasi Asante was brought down 25 years out and a free-kick was awarded. Mutch stepped up to take it and the shot sailed just over the bar. Soon after that Blues had another chance to go one-nil up, with Curtis Davies hitting the bar from a Mutch corner - a statement of intent, and just one of many blows the crossbar would face this evening.

With Blues well on top, the signs looked encouraging. Continuing to press, Adam Rooney almost put Blues ahead but fell off balance and his shot sailed over the bar. Following this were two good chances for Oxford, however both were wasted. A strong back-line of Foster, Carr, Caldwell, Davies and Ridgewell impressed, and showed that they don't only look good on paper, but on the pitch too. The half finished with Asante coming close yet again, and with Blues doing everything but scoring in the first forty-five.

With substitutions made at half time, the exchanges in the second half began at a slower pace. With Blues marginally on top, the deadlock was broken against the run of play as Ryan James netted for the Us after coming on as a substitute.

The goal seemed to slow down the Blues' play slightly, so Hughton reacted by introduced Murphy, Valles and Redmond into the fray. It remained a much quieter second half, with Oxford seeing more of the ball. The Us made it 2-0 with just ten minutes of the match remaining. In a wonderful move, Ryan James' ball found Alfie Potter who slotted the ball home and well and truly knocked the stuffing out of the away team.

Ironically, more chances were created and much more positive football was on display today from Birmingham's point of view compared to Hereford at the weekend. Again, Mutch and Gomis impressed, and youngsters who will be heavily involved with the team this season got a chance to show what they are made of - with Asante again putting on a positive display. However, the doom and gloom merchants still have something to feed on as we have only scored one goal during our three-game-long pre season campaign, which has been our achilles heal for some time now and one of the major reasons why we were relegated in the first place.

However, I feel like I should try and focus on the positives from the game. After all, off the field we are getting nothing but negative vibes. It's a bad time to be a Bluenose right now, so hopefully by the time August the 6th comes round, Hughton will have ironed out some of the underlying problems and have a strong squad to begin the 11/12 season. One thing is for sure

Observations: Hereford 0-0 Blues

Pre-season games are normally boring affairs, and todays game at Edgar Street didn’t differ from the norm. There were positives and negatives to be taken from the game though, and from my point of view here they are...

The Positives...
Chris Burke looks a great addition to the side at this level and a suitable replacement for Seb Larsson. His ability to take on players, which we didn’t see Larsson do too often, was welcomed by Blues fans today. He is already striking up a good partnership down the right with Stephen Carr and it looks promising on the right wing for this season.

Although we didn’t do much with it, the possession we obtained throughout the game was good. We seemed to hold onto the ball very well and managed to keep the ball on the floor for the majority which was enjoyable to say the least. As I have just mentioned, I was particularly impressed with the work of Burke and Carr, and I also thought Keith Fahey had a decent game in the middle too.

Off the field, the amount of Blues fans that turned out for the game today was great to see. 2,848 in attendance and I’d say a large chunk of that were Bluenoses. When the club are at a low like this it’s brilliant to see so many fans turn up – and make some noise throughout the game too.


The Negatives...
I’ve mentioned how much possession we had, yet we failed to do much with it. A few chances for Adam Rooney coupled with missed strikes from Michel and Burke summed up our game in terms of goal scoring opportunities. Hereford had the better chances and if they knew how to put them away they would have won the game.

With David Murphy having to play on the left wing – which he is actually comfortable with, it must be said – and Rooney and Akwasi Asante the only fit strikers, we must make at least one or two additions before the season commences on the 6th August. Although on paper the names of the squad stand out as a team who could potentially gain promotion, or come close, however the amount of players in the squad is a cause for concern, especially with the amount of games we already have to play this season – and that’s not even counting the Carling Cup or FA Cup games. Hopefully Chris Hughton makes some additions before the end of the summer transfer window at least

To Summarise...
Apart from the lack of goals, it was an enjoyable and extremely cheap day out in the Hereforshire sunshine. It was interesting to see new playes in action and Burke particularly impressed me, with Rooney also looking like he could do a job in the Championship this season.

Next up are two pre-season games against Oxford and Everton before our promotion campaign begins against Derby - for the latter two I will be on holiday and therefore will not be doing a post-match blog.

Off To A Winning Start

The first game of pre-season that took place earlier this evening against Cork City proved to be a positive run out for Chris Hughton’s charges, culminating in a 1-0 win for his side.

It was by no means an enthralling game; however pre-season matches are about bleeding in new players; looking at different formations and for a new manager in Hughton, seeing what each player brings to the game as an individual and working as a team.

A professional performance put on by the travelling side who flew to Ireland earlier on in the week, Blues never looked out of their depth nor too troubled by a Cork side who are half way through their season. New players were given a run out, including Morgaro Gomis and Adam Rooney who both more than impressed in their debuts for the club. As well as this, youngsters Nathan Redmond and Akwasi Asante were both given a chance; which is hopefully a sign of things to come for the new season.

Rooney got the first goal of the game and showed what he will hopefully be bringing to the table when the real ball comes out in less than a months’ time. On the half hour mark he reacted to a deflected save from the Cork City goal keeper and tapped the ball home with ease; opening his account for Blues in a game which he undoubtedly impressed.

Although it proved to be the only goal in the ninety minutes, Blues fashioned plenty more chances; most notably a 35 yard strike from Keith Fahey which was expertly tipped over. Colin Doyle in a web-chat earlier on today described Fahey as having the most pin-point shot now Seb Larsson has left the club, and hopefully we see much more of this on a regular basis.

In a game which saw Blues comfortable in possession for the majority, it can definitely be said that tonight was a good chance for Hughton’s team to have a run out, and for the manager himself to assess the players he has at his disposal and what he needs to add to the ranks before the season starts of the 6th August.

Staying on the subject of transfers, it seems as if Barry Ferguson will be leaving the club to join up with fellow Championship side Blackpool, and will complete the move some time next week. It has been said by many that we need to move on, and so in selling Ferguson we are in effect ending the McLeish era thereby allowing Hughton to bring in pacey midfielders that spectators want to see, however losing Ferguson who is a great asset to the team and a footballing genius, it will be a blow to the team and a big hole in midfield to fill.

Saying that, we have enough at our disposal to be able to fill said hole, and move on from the ‘McLeish era’, firmly into the Hughton era – one which has begun with a win.

Get someone down to IKEA, we're in need of a trophy cabinet...

Of corse pre-season games are just a way to bleed in new players, to get fitness levels up and for a good bit of team bonding, but picking up a few wins and a few trophies on the way can't be all bad, can it?

Blues' second game on tour was against Beijing Guoan at the more than impressive Bird’s Nest Stadium that was used for the Olympic games - it’s a shame this great stadium hasn’t been put to good use since then.


It was a well fought game and a good work out for Blues. Nikola Zigic made his first start and put in an impressive shift up top in the first half proving himself a handful for the Beijing Guoan defence. New-signing Enric Valles also started, and also impressed, and ‘keeper Ben Foster played the full ninety minutes in goal, making a couple of great saves in the process, namely one from a superb free-kick, which Foster got a hand to and saved expertly.


The only goal of the game came again from Garry O’Connor, in the 82nd minute of the match. Cameron Jerome weaved his way cleverly through the Beijing defence, and released a shot which was partially saved by the goal keeper, and as the ball found it’s way back to Jerome, he unselfishly passed it to O’Connor who neatly slotted it in with a left foot strike.


Two goals for O’Connor, two wins for the Blues and two trophies to boot.







After a kit launch, a free for all in the Xtep shop and abit of team bonding at China's tourist attractions (in slightly questionable clothes I must add) Blues played their last game on their tour of China against Liaoning Hongyun, at another impressive venue; the Shenyang Olympic Stadium.

A Zigic-O'Connor partnership seems to be working well, and within just 18 minutes Blues were ahead courtesy of yet another Garry O'Connor goal. He rounded the keeper and slotted the ball home, after a crafted headed flick-on by Zigic.

Blues doubled their lead courtesy of Seb Larsson, who by the sounds of it has been working hard on this pre-season tour and his goal was well deserved. Craig Gardner sent a looping ball into the box, for Larsson to cooly chip the ball over the Liaoning Hongyun ‘keeper and into the net.

It was a comfortable win for Blues, who were able to pass the ball around without much pressure, which meant they could give most players a run out; including young Fraser Kerr who got a run out for the last twenty minutes or so. Goalkeeper Maik Taylor also got given the full ninety minutes.

O’Connor has shown a new lease of life so far this pre-season; with a one-goal-a-game ratio, doubters head’s are being turned, and all we can hope now is that he can keep this form up to when the real ball comes out, and that he doesn’t get injured again. McLeish has said several times that Garry is one of the most clinical finishers at the club, and it seems as O’Connor is proving his gaffer right, and the doubters wrong.

Last years pre-season, the tour in Austria and the games back in England, went pretty badly results wise. The players and manager alike admitted worries, but then we had an amazing season. This pre-season, so far, we've played well picking up results and a few trophies; I'm hoping this doesn't mean It'll continue this pattern of opposites meaning that we'll have a bad season - I'm sure it won't!

Played: 1 Won: 1 Trophies: 1

Blues kicked off their pre-season campaign earlier today with a 3-2 win over a Hong Kong select XI. They found themselves 1-0 up after 21 minutes, however they had to come from behind to beat the resilient Hong Kong team with a late winner.

Just over 13,000 were there to watch the game, which in a 40,000 capacity stadium looked a small crowed, but in the grand scheme of things is not a bad crowd at all for a pre-season game. A familiar line-up started the first half for Blues, with the only new boy starting being Ben Foster. Scott Dann got on the end of s Seb Larsson free-kick to put the Blues 1-0 up after just 21minutes at a very humid Hong Kong stadium, before Hong Kong struck back only minutes later with a Leonardo Alessandro Ferreira goal. Blues fans probably wished they hadn't bothered getting up at 8am, as the Hong Kong select team scored again after an impressive shot by Christian Kwesi Annan on the stroke of half time, leaving it 2-1 to Hong Kong XI at the break.

Several changes were made for Birmingham at half time; Foster made way for Taylor, Murphy got his first run out since he broke his knee-cap, Carr was replaced by Parnaby, Valles filled the left wing gap, Gardner and Michel both came on to unite in a centre-midfield partnership and O’Connor came on for a tired looking Phillips.

Blues started the second half more brightly, with the bulk of possession , and as the game went on they were considerably the better side, but still in search of that all important equaliser. New boy Valles impressed, while Michel and Gardner made for a promising partnership in the middle of the field. The anticipated appearance of Nikola Zigic had to wait until the 66th minute, when he replace Cameron Jerome and youngster Jordon Mutch replaced Keith Fahey. With some neat little touches as soon as he came on Zigic seemed to be fitting in just perfectly, as did Jordon Mutch, as in the 73rd minute he crossed the ball into the box to find the head of Craig Gardner, who cushioned the ball into the back of the net, much to the relief of the blues players, who had finally found their much deserved equaliser.

From then on Blues pushed further in search of a winner, and as penalties loomed to decide the winner of the Xtep Cup, Parnaby’s pass fell to the feet of Nikola Zigic, who provided a brilliant ball to Garry O’Connor, who slid the ball home, just minutes before the final whistle sounded.

There was no time left for a comeback, and Blues were crowned champions on the (much coveted) Xtep Cup! The first of many this season? Who knows, but to play your first pre-season game and to win a trophy can only be a good omen for the season to come!

Doing it again, new faces and conquering the Far East

After the heroics performed on and off the pitch last season to give Birmingham a rightly deserved top of the table place in the Premier League last season, the question is; can they do it again?

Some people, namely pundits, would class Birmingham’s wonder season as a one off; that it won’t happen again. It was hard to do what we did last season, but it’s going to be even harder to repeat it again in 2010-11, and prove to the pundits and the rest of the Premier League that last season was no one off, that it was no fluke.

Three new faces have been brought in already to bolster the squad and replace players lost at the end of last season; highly rated goalkeeper Ben Foster has come in to take the place of Joe Hart; the player who gave himself legend status at the Blues in just one season. The tallest player to play at the 2010 World Cup, Serbian giant Nikola Zigic, has squeezed into the small gap left by Christian ‘Chucho’ Benitez who failed to impress Alex and his staff in his season-long loan.

Also brought in to give a bit of more bulk to the ever thinning squad at Blues, is young Spanish midfielder Enric Valles. Valles learnt his trade at Barcelona, before moving to the Dutch league. Having not played many games last season, he will need to get match fitness levels up before he possibly makes a start in the Premier League, but the age of twenty with not much experience, he may be ‘one for the future.’ McLeish is also hoping to bring in to “ another couple of bodies to the squad at least,” and with bids in the process and some already tabled, it looks like a further few faces will be added to the Blues squad before the season kicks off against Sunderland on the 14th August.

As well as brining in new players, a new face in the management team has been brought in after Roy Aitken received an offer he couldn't turn down. After a week-and-abit long search, Alex's new Assistant Manager is Peter Grant. The former-Scotland international has got plenty of experience, even with a stint as first team manager of Norwich City. He is an ideal replacement for Aitken, with McLeish saying that "his personality is akin to that of the man we have just lost, Roy Aitken, and that will be a great asset to us."

To start off the new season and hopefully to start off a repeat of last season's brilliant record, Blues got back down to business on Wednesday when they flew out to the far east to begin their pre-season tour of Hong Kong and China. There to welcome them at the airport were masses of press, and even a model by the name of Jenny Wong, who presented McLeish with a bouquet of flowers - organised by Carson Yeung of corse!

After two days of training in the tough humidity of Hong Kong, Birmingham start their pre-season matches on Sunday against the Hong Kong League XI team - a team made up of the best players from the Hong Kong league. This match kicks off at 3pm local time, which is 8am UK time, so if anyone is committed enough, the Birmingham Mail is doing a live blog for the game, with the coverage starting at 7.30am, which can be found here.

The second of three games of the tour, to be played on the 21st July, will be played at the famous Birds Nest stadium in Beijing, against Beijing Guoan. But something about this match will be different: that’s because it will be broadcast live on TV across the whole of China! And after all the media interest already, you can guarentee a lot of people will be tuning in to watch the game! Liaoning Hongyun are Blues’ third and final opponents on their pre-season tour, and this match will be played on the 24th July.

Of corse, the main aim of this tour is to get the players ready for the new season, but another aim is to get Birmingham City promoted in the far east, and the circulate interest of another Premier League team (after all, they must be bored of Manchester United by now, surely…) After six players plus McLeish taking part in a PR event at a shopping mall in Hong Kong in one of their first days there, you can guarentee there will be a lot more in the way of publicizing our team, and by the time the team depart from Hong Kong, they might have a few thousand more fans supporting them next season. This can only be good for the club, and the future really does look bright for the blue half of Birmingham.

the ins and outs of it all..

Coming to the club so far...

birmingham's first signing of the summer wasn't the expected one in ben foster, but an unheard of spanish midfielder by the name of enric valles. the twenty-year old signed on a free, and will join the club when the transfer window officially opens, on the 1st july. having not heard much of the youngster, it is hard to judge him on how well he will do, but he has already spoken about linking up with michel, blues' only other spaniard - which should help him settle into life in birmingham. learning his trade at barcelona, the versatile midfielder is a young addition to the squad, and hopefully a good one too.






the second player to come to blues in the summer was the long awaited signing of manchester united goalkeeper ben foster. after dragging of for at least a week, the deal was competed on the 19th may for an undisclosed fee - which is expected to be within the region of 6 million pounds, including add ons etc.

having started the season at united, foster got pushed down to third in the pecking order when edwin van der sar came back to full fitness, and has spent most of the season not playing football. discarded from the england team from the world cup due to his lack of football this season, twenty-seven year old foster is loking to regain his place in the side, whilst playing regular football, stating he is "not interested in just hanging about."






And leaving...

leaving the club this summer we have a handful of players, making way for the new hoard of players alxes mcleish is looking to bring in. last years player of the season franck queudrue has been left out of the side since picking up an injury early on in the season, and is now moving onto pastures new, after his contract came to an end. he started the season at centre back, but after an unfortunate injury, the fan favourite has not been able to get back into the side because of the brilliant form of scott dann.

former-star player gary mcsheffrey is also moving on after lack of first team football. the coventry-born forward started his blues career on fine form in the championship in the 2006/2007 season, netting a countless number of goals helping the club secure promotion back to the premier league at the first time of asking. however since then, performances and goals have depleted, and after rumors of him being 'in with the wrong crowd,' mcsheffrey and the club have both agreed it would be best for him to move on, after having two loan spells this season at nottingham forest and leeds respectively.

having been at the club for only one year, gregory vignal is also parting ways with birmingham. the french defender has made only nine appearances for the blues in his time here, which was mainly down to injury and lack of fitness, but also because fellow team-mate liam ridgewell had been playing so well at left back. he played the last few games at left back for birmingham due to the absence of scott dann, at has proved he can still cut it in the higher leagues. blues signed him at the start of the season on a free, one year, transfer.

also leaving the blues is lee carsley. carsley confirmed his exit before the final home game of the season against burnley, a game in which he came on as a late substitute and recieved a well deserved standing ovation from the whole ground, and was handed the captains armabdn so that he could captain his side for the last time. it was a fitting gesture, as he captained the side to promotion last season (2008/2009), and upon leaving the club, he said he came here to do just that [gain promotion], and will be looking to join another championship side, in hope of repeating this same feat with them.

teemu tainio - on loan from sunderland for the season - has also made his way back to the north-east. tainio made a total of six appearances for blues near the start of the season, before picking up an injury, forcing him to stay out of the side for the majority of the rest of the season.

youngsters artur krysiak and jared wilson are also moving on. krysiak, a polish goalkeeper, looks set to join up with burton albion where he has been on loan this season. jared wilson, an exciting young defender, has not had the option on his contract extended, and is also leaving the club. during his time at blues he made one appearance, which was last season in 2008, away to queens park rangers. two other academy players who will not have their contracts extended are shaun timmins and jacob rowe.


leave the door open boys, there'll be quite a few new faces walking through it this summer.