TOUGH START

Birmingham have had a tough start to the new season after they have won only one match so far. As a result, they are closer to the relegation zone, and no longer one of the online betting market’s favourites for promotion.

Despite their financial difficulties, the club was expected to challenge for promotion spot this season. Due to this difficult start, pressure is certainly a manager Lee Clark. He has said that the team needs to have more self-belief in order to get results. The 1-0 victory over Yeovil town has given Birmingham the three points that they have taken so far.

In other two matches, they have been defeated by the same score. Clark has a special said that the first half against Brighton and Hove Albion clearly demonstrated a lack of self-belief amongst the players. However, this improved significantly in the second half after he had spoken to them about the same during the half-time break. Birmingham were unlikely to come away with something out of the match, as they hit the crossbar twice. It was Brighton’s goal scored by Andy Crofts that disappointed Clark the most, as he felt that it was too easy for the opposition to score.

Birmingham will be hoping to get back to winning ways when they take on Leicester City in yet another difficult match for the team.

“I felt we had some great situations in the first-half where we didn’t show enough belief. At least we showed a bit more belief in the second-half, in attacking third, after we spoke about it at half-time. I felt we were just a little bit nervous in the first-half, for some strange reason. There was no conviction in our shots and passes and crosses in the first-half. So we just stepped it up and did things properly,” said Clark after the match. Leicester City are also chasing promotion this season.

BIRMINGHAM NET WIN

Birmingham City recently managed a 2-1 win from their first friendly match of the pre-season against Hull City. The Premier league outfit have spent a lot of money in strengthening their team, but they were not a match for the Championship outfit that finished mid-table last season.

Birmingham looked enthusiastic and were full of vigour in the match. This helped them secured a win over their former Championship opponents. After this victory, manager Lee Clark has said that he cannot wait for the start of the new campaign.

Birmingham were one of the favourites to get promoted into the Premier league a few years ago, but they have since fallen into a lot of financial difficulties. Despite this, Clark has been able to get the best out of players in the last few months. It was only recently that they suffered a defeat against Shrewsbury Town, which was demoralising for the players, and prompted one fan to change his allegiance to Man Utd and buy a massive man utd canvas.

Birmingham will be facing Watford on the opening day of the season. It will be one of the biggest tests for Lee Clark and his men because Watford were almost promoted into the Premier league through the play-offs.
They were defeated by Crystal Palace in the final of the play-offs. Despite this, they are expected to be strong once again this season.

“The good thing is, as a manager, they are listening and taking on board what we are trying to be. Saturday they were a lot more like how I want us to be when we haven’t got the ball, against good players as well. That was the most pleasing aspect for me and why I was a little bit frustrated that they didn’t get the clean sheet. The formation, without a doubt,” said the Birmingham manager, said that he was happy to play against the 3-5-2 formation.