Hong Kong is an amazing kaleidoscope of tall buildings, mass transit trains, trams, buses, cars, handcarts and people. There are lots of people in a hurry, going places, but there are also small parks dotted around the city for those who want to pause and be refreshed. There’s food, glorious food including some I fancied, the papaya and red onion salad was a favourite, and food that I didn’t try such as seahorses. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Birmingham City F.C.
Elated and exhausted
It has been nearly a week since Birmingham City ended their season with a memorable win against Fulham. It was an incredible game, with a full St Andrew’s providing loud support from before kick off to the post-game players parade around the pitch. It was absolutely wonderful and I felt elated.
But I also felt exhausted, worn out by the rollercoaster emotions generated by an end-of-season escape from relegation. Continue reading
Football, life and death
At times like this, when Birmingham City is teetering just above the relegation zone, it can feel as though football is the most important thing in my life. But I’ve been reminded that it isn’t. Continue reading
Being part of the crowd
Saturday’s game against Sheffield United reminded me of our first home game of this season, against Bristol City. We went behind to an early goal, equalised before half time and Maghoma scored the winner. Continue reading
Academies
I don’t approve of a rapid turnover of footballs managers and felt doubtful about the appointment of Garry Monk. But he won me over when he talked about giving young players a chance and providing a pathway from the Academy to the first team. Continue reading
Hope fulfilled
Birmingham City won a game, after losing 7 League games plus a Cup game. And it wasn’t an ugly win; it was beautiful. Blues had 8 corners, 8 shots on target and scored from 3 of them. Stockdale only had to make one save. It was hard to pick a man of the match because the whole team played well. Continue reading
Hope for Hull game
At this stage of the season, I think most Birmingham City fans would prefer winning ugly to losing better. The stats in Garry Monk’s first two games looked better but you don’t get points for possession or passion. In the game against Cardiff, Birmingham had 16 shots, with 7 on target, but one of Cardiff’s shots ended up in the goal. Continue reading
Snow, fog and not casting the first stone
The last edition of the Made in Brum fanzine had a good question on its cover: “Has Cotterill broken Blues or have Blues broken Cotterill?” For me the question is unanswerable because it isn’t either/or but both/and. Blues handed Cotterill a near impossible job and he didn’t manage to do it. Continue reading
Fear and hope
When I go to watch Birmingham City play, I always go with a mixture of fear and hope. Today there may be more fear than hope. Birmingham City’s 5-0 defeat on Tuesday has made it harder for me to look on the bright side. Continue reading
The Bright Side
We lost to Millwall. It’s not the end of the world or even the end of the Championship. We actually went up a place in the table because Bolton’s goal difference became worse than ours. Continue reading
Millwall
Last year Millwall won the Family Club of the Year award but fans still chant, “No one likes us.” Some of them probably deserve their reputation as hooligans but the majority go to watch the football not to fight. Many feel that their reputation is not deserved and one fan, Bill May, blames the BBC. Continue reading
Friday thoughts
It was freezing cold on Tuesday night and we lost 1-4 but I didn’t regret going to the game. Birmingham City played well for the first 90 minutes though they ran out of steam in time added on. The attendance of 13,175 wasn’t brilliant but it was good to have Blues fans in the Tilton as well as the Kop. Continue reading
Departures
Birmingham City published an article noting the contrast between previous transfer windows and the one that has just ended, which saw departures but no arrivals. Continue reading
Betting and football
The name of the league in which Birmingham City plays, the Sky Bet Championship, indicates the close relationship between betting and football. The 888 on the shirt reinforces the impression. Continue reading
Preston
Our away fans have been magnificent this season and I’d like to express my respect and good wishes to all Birmingham City fans travelling up to watch the game at Preston today. I hope you see our team put in a similar performance to the one against Derby but get a better result. We lost to a better team, but I don’t think we deserved that scoreline. Continue reading