POOR START

Birmingham city have made a poor start to the season under the management of Lee Clark, who has come under pressure in recent weeks. However, the manager has said that he is not prepared to look at the table right now because it is still early in the season.

He is only prepared to win football matches as it comes. When asked about how he would judge the start of the season, Clark said that it would be a success if the club managed to beat Sheffield Wednesday in the next league match. This is because he was seeing the season as just one game and not worrying about the past results.

It would be interesting to see if the Birmingham board accept to this viewpoint especially given the poor start they have made. Birmingham are close to the relegation zone after having won only one match from the opening seven encounters. A win against Sheffield Wednesday, though, will change the entire perspective because it would get them clear out of the relegation zone. Birmingham have been selling a number of their top players over the last few years, and it is beginning to show the effect on the team.
This summer has seen yet another several arrivals and departures.

“It’s a success just to beat Sheffield Wednesday Saturday and then I will look to the next game. There’s no targets been set, it’s just about doing the best I can for a great club and moving forward that way, trying to develop the young players we have, add value to the squad by doing that and going from there. I am working for a huge club. I am the manager of a huge club,” said the manager ahead of the match with Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday. Birmingham have not won in the last three matches.

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.

DEPARTURES

Birmingham City only recently sold defender Curtis Davies to Hull City and they could be set for another major departure from St Andrews after manager Lee Clark has said that striker Nathan Redmond could be sold between now and the end of the transfer window.

The financial difficulties at the West Midlands club are well documented. Hence, they have been selling a number of their better players in order to raise enough money in such a way to ward off their financial troubles. Curtis Davies was one of the impressive players for the club last season as they finished mid-table.

It looks like the club will be unlikely to challenge for a play-off position in the coming season after selling one of the influential defenders, while one of their best strikers also looks set to leave the club. A number of Premier league clubs like Swansea and Norwich are thought to be interested in securing his services. He could cost in the region of £ 2 million. Clark has said that there are almost 8 clubs interested in signing him, but he believes that he will ultimately end in the Premier league.

Redmond made 38 appearances for Birmingham last season. He scored two goals and created six in these matches. Birmingham struggled with the prospect of relegation in the first half, but recovered in the second half of the season.
“The truth, me being transparent and not speaking out of line, is that there are six to eight Premier League clubs interested in Nathan. That’s in various different ways.

Sometimes you get a call from an agent, then get a call from the player’s agent, sometimes you get an inquiry from a fellow manager. Now what we’ve had are three bids, two that have been accepted and one that hasn’t been accepted,” said Clark.

CLARK TRUSTS KIDS

Birmingham manager Lee Clark has been fielding one of the youngest teams in the Championship this season. As a result, they have looked lacking experience at times.

Clark has admitted to naivety from his team on occasions, but he is confident that they will be able to finish the season strongly. He has said that the team only needs to develop a ruthless streak before they can push for a play-off position next season. Clark voiced his opinions after the recent match against Millwall. Even though the home team were in complete control of the match, Birmingham failed to take advantage of it.

They paid a heavy price for not taking their opportunities after Millwall managed to get back into the match. As a result of the dropped points, Birmingham remain in the 13th position in the table. They are almost 10 points behind the final play-off position with only a few matches remaining in the season. It took only a few weeks ago that Birmingham would be able to mount an unlikely push for the play-offs. However, the team has taken just one point from the last two matches. Clark has said that it was extremely frustrating after the Millwall match knowing that his team had handed the advantage to the opposition after being in control.

“Millwall was frustrating as we handed the initiative back to them. We’ve let them cause us problems. We’ve got be more ruthless and more professional. I think at times you could see we were a bit young and naive because of their power and physicality they just brushed us aside, so we have to look at that. The youngsters are doing really well. We’re really proud of them and what they have given us and these experiences will stand them in good stead,” said Clark.

CLARK LEAVING SOON?

There has been a lot of speculation in recent days that the Birmingham City manager Lee Clark will leave the club the next few days. However, the manager has dismissed such speculation by saying that he does not know the reason for this speculation.

Clark has been linked with the vacant managerial job at Blackpool. Even though there has been no approach made by Blackpool for Lee Clark, the bookmakers have made him as the favourite to take over. The first contact from Blackpool was a general enquiry more than three weeks ago. It is understood that they have made no serious offer for the manager in the last few days despite the speculation.

Blackpool are looking to replace Michael Appleton, who decided to take over at Blackburn a few weeks ago. Clark is on a rolling contract at St Andrews after taking over from Chris Hughton in the summer. He has managed to get the club to relative safety despite the ongoing financial troubles at the club. Birmingham are currently 17th in the Championship table with 34 points on the board. They have managed to win just one match in the last five, which has been the reason for their low league position. Clark has said that he is concentrating only on Birmingham at the moment.

“I got lots of texts about it, a lot of money has been put on me, hasn’t there? As I said when I got asked a couple of weeks ago about their approach, I hadn’t been told about it by anybody. But since, when I had a conversation about it with the club, they said there was no [formal] approach made, they turned it down. That’s been it really. I’ve never heard anything else,” said Clark ahead of the match with Nottingham Forest during the weekend.

SPECTOR IMPRESSED

The former West Ham and American International defender Jonathan Spector has said that he is extremely impressed by the quality shown by the youngsters at Birmingham City.

The injury crisis currently faced by the club has led to the arrival of several youngsters onto the scene in order to cope up with the injury problems for the manager. In the recent match against Cardiff City, Birmingham had as many as 11 players unavailable for the match. As a result, the manager Lee Clark had no other option but to utilise as many as 7 youngsters against Cardiff.

Even the Birmingham lost the match 1-0, the defender Jonathan Spector, who is one of the experienced members of the squad, said that he is extremely impressed with the attitude and the quality shown by the youngsters against Cardiff. This match was always going to be tough for Birmingham because Cardiff are flying high in the Championship table.

Birmingham are just four points above the relegation zone. The financial difficulties faced by the club means that they are unlikely to strengthen in terms of new players during January. Hence, they are unlikely to depend on the same group of youngsters that played a vital role in the match against Cardiff City during the weekend.

“To be fair to the younger players, they’ve done brilliantly and haven’t needed much help. They’ve got a lot of enthusiasm and character – players like Mitch Hancox who has been at the club for years and loves the club. I think that’s football – there’s always uncertainty at every club [in January] no matter where you are. For us players, it’s up to us to concern ourselves to what happens on the pitch,” said the defender after Cardiff match, which left the team in the 20th position.

CLARK HAPPY WITH DRAW

The Birmingham City manager Lee Clark has said that he is extremely happy with the performance of the team in the recent 1-1 draw with Blackpool.

However, he has said that the state of the pitch meant that his side were not able to win the match. Tom Ince managed to give Blackpool the lead after just 17 min on the clock. However, Curtis Davies managed to equalise things early in the second half from a corner. Birmingham did not offer a lot of attacking threat in the first half, but the improved significantly in the second half.

The manager Lee Clark has said that he is extremely happy to come away with a point from this match, which has helped them to keep their noses above the relegation zone.

Birmingham are coming into this match on the back of two consecutive defeats in the league, and the 1-1 draw helped them avoid the third one. Their recent form of just one win in the last five matches has left them in the 19th position having played 19 matches in the league. Clark has said that he is happy with the performance and the attitude of the players, who would have done well had the pitch not been as bad as it was on the night.

“We didn’t cause them enough problems, we didn’t deal with the pitch. We didn’t manage the pitch because the pitch was difficult for both teams. Blackpool did the right thing in the first half. Overall the attitude and application and defensive side of the game for the full game I was happy with. The attacking side was a big improvement in the second half,” said Clark after the match. The team will be facing big guns in the form of Wolverhampton and Crystal Palace in the next few matches.

Birmingham v Burnley

On 22 December Birmingham City plays Burnley at St Andrews Stadium, and the home side seem to be on fire at the moment. Their recent draw with Crystal palace, from a two goal deficit, suggests that some of the struggles the club had coped with this season might be easing; there really might be light at the end of the tunnel.

A win against Burnley would help Birmingham to put a gap between itself and the teams facing possible relegation at the bottom of the championship table. Currently a Birmingham victory is priced at around 5/4 with Burnley priced at 9/4 and a draw at 12/5.
Currently Birmingham with 25 points is sixth from the bottom of the table, two points ahead of Ipswich and 7 above Bristol City, Barnsley, Sheffield Wednesday and Peterborough. In terms of possible relegation, while some bookmakers are offering 8/1 on Birmingham City being demoted, others are pricing it at around 14/1.

Fans are eagerly awaiting a return to fitness of the midfielder Darren Ambrose who has been plagued with injuries and illness ever since he was recruited from Crystal Palace last summer. He has only played five games, but in one he scored and in three others he was involved goals. Lee Clark, the Birmingham manager, said that he is still betting on Ambrose’s return to form in the near future.

Once the planned City of Birmingham Stadium is opened, Birmingham City will have the fourth largest stadium in the UK. With a seating capacity of around 55,000 only Wembley, Old Trafford and Emirates stadia are larger. It had been planned to build a upper casino within the stadium, but those plans are currently on hold while alternative locations are considered.

If is it built elsewhere, then Birmingham fans will have to content themselves with playing online on Lucky Nugget as they wind their way home from matches – this is probably already a favoured past-time of many fans considering the range of games available including football-themed slots games.

DIOP SIGNS FOR BIRMINGHAM

Birmingham city recently concluded the signing of the former Portsmouth midfielder Papa Bouba Diop. This is a positive addition to the squad according to the manager Lee Clark, who believes that the huge and extremely physical midfielder will certainly add to the number of options he has in this position.

The 34-year-old is one of the experienced campaigners in English football after having a lot of experience playing for Portsmouth. He has now been signed on a one-month loan deal. He has spent the last few weeks on a trial basis with the club. Lee Clark has said that he is now extremely happy that his signing has been finalised.

He will now be competing for places against the likes of the former Premier league players Hayden Mullins, Darren Ambrose, Keith Fahey, and Jonathan Specter. Due to the fact that he even has the ability to play ball on the ground, Papa Bouba Diop will provide the team with a lot of options. The 34-year-old is one of the hugely physical players in the league. His imposing stature will be a great addition to the team over the next few weeks, as they target to at least finish in the play-offs.

“He’s a very strong, physical type of player who is comfortable on the ball as well and we believe he can give us something a little bit different in that midfield area. He’s an impressive and imposing type of guy and a big central midfield player. He’s got a good pedigree and was part of the West Ham team who got promoted last year, so we’re looking for his experience and know-how and determination to help us through,” said the Birmingham manager after completing his transfer. Birmingham have made an indifferent start to the new season with only three victories in the 10 matches.