Birmingham City reminds me of the opening line from A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens. It is the best of times on the pitch, the team is unbeaten in the last 11 games and has won the last 4. Off the pitch, it doesn’t seem so good. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Garry Monk
Once more
It’s Saturday, Birmingham City are playing at home and I’ll be going to St Andrew’s once more. It will be the sixth home game and Blues still haven’t won there this season. As always, I’ll be hoping for a win this time. Continue reading
Values
On Heritage Open Day, Bournville Junior School was one of the places that was open and I was able to visit the school I attended as a child. I saw my name written in a book recording when I had started and left the school and I walked around looking at displays and posters. The poster on values listed the values that I could remember being taught by that school and by my parents. Continue reading
Late goals
Birmingham City players conceded two late goals in both games played on Saturday. It was disappointing but not devastating in the Under-23s game because Blues had already scored four goals and beat Colchester 4-2. Continue reading
Teamwork
Since hearing the news of senior staff departures, I’ve been thinking more about the Birmingham City staff team than the team on the pitch. The administrative staff team are just as vital as the players; without them games could not be played. Continue reading
Ready?
I’m not sure I’m ready for this season to begin but I’m hoping that the Birmingham City players are. Garry Monk’s press conference helped to alleviate some of my anxiety. He seems to be able to find a positive aspect in every situation and I can understand why he can get a good response from players. Continue reading
Looking for a silver lining
I felt depressed when the club’s statement said the transfer embargo had not been lifted even though it was just confirming what I had thought for some time. And the post on almajir.net describes a sobering situation. I have been trying to cheer myself up by looking for some positives. Continue reading
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
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