Tag Archives: Gary Rowett

Disappointing draw

Birmingham City’s goalless draw on Saturday was scrappy and I came away feeling disappointed.  Just over 4 years ago, I can remember watching on TV as Blues played at Wolves. They earned a magnificent 0-0 draw, which seemed wonderful because they had lost 0-8 at home in their previous game. Gary Rowett had been manager for less than a week and had managed to turn a group of demoralised men into a team that could defend.

Garry Monk has created a team that can defend and score goals. The upside to this is that he’s got the fans onside, providing fantastic support.  The downside is that our expectations have been raised and we find it harder to appreciate the value of a no-score draw and 3 consecutive clean sheets.  I also think that it’s good to be outside, look up from our screens, talk to the people around us, and feel part of a community. That feeling was reinforced by the Supporters Memorial. A list of Blues fans who died in 2018 was shown on the big screen and read out at half time.  Communities share their joys and their sorrows.

  • Mascots get photos
  • Brentford huddle
  • Supporters memorial
  • Result
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Post-truth bubbles

Social media has made it possible for events to be reported almost instantly but the news and views that you read depend on what your smart phones/computers show you. There’s too much information for someone to view it all so the computer programs running social media such as Facebook filter some of it out and just give you the kind of information that you prefer. Continue reading →

Same result, different reaction

On Sunday, Birmingham City got the same result at Molineux as last season but it didn’t feel the same. Last season, I watched the game on TV in a bar and 0-0 seemed a magnificent score for the team’s first game under Gary Rowett. I was delighted that we had won a point, a whole point!  Yesterday we dropped two points according the reports of those who were there. Continue reading →

More important things

There are more important things in life than football and it’s good for managers and players to remember this. Gary Rowett and Chris Hughton opposed each other on Saturday but have some things in common. Both seem to be grounded in the world outside football, with family ties and values that help them to avoid extremes of elation or despair dictated by performances on the pitch. I may be naïve but I think Rowett is grounded enough to stick with a job half done and not snatch at a job in the Premier League. So I am inclined to believe Panos’ statement about his commitment to Birmingham City. Continue reading →

Back to the future

October 21st 2015 was celebrated as Back to the future day, the day that Marty McFly travelled to in the film. Looking back at how much the world has changed in thirty years should make me realise how impossible it is to predict what will happen in the future, which is no reason not to try. Continue reading →

Patience

Patience is not the first word that comes to mind when I think about sports but it’s a quality that both sportsmen and spectators need. It was epitomised in Alastair Cook’s epic innings which lasted for 13 hours and 56 minutes, which according to a BBC article, is the time that it takes Wayne Rooney to earn £24,881. (I do love irrelevant factoids.) Continue reading →

A long, long time

Young fan

Young child at St Andrew’s

Tomorrow it will be two years since I wrote the first post for this blog, on February 24th 2013. On Friday it will be four years since Birmingham City won the League Cup, the high point before our plunge down and out of the Premier League. None of us had any idea of the bumpy ride that lay ahead. We were relegated in May 2011; Carson Yeung was arrested on money laundering charges in June 2011; his trial started in November 2012 but was adjourned until April 2013. So when I started this blog, it should have already been clear that the problems in Hong Kong were going to be protracted. But I was hoping that once the trial started and a verdict was handed down then the situation would be resolved. I am still hoping for a resolution to the whole complicated mess but not expecting anything to happen quickly. Continue reading →

Little things make a difference

Players at a trio of West Midlands clubs have put in improved performances for their new managers. Birmingham City are not unbeatable but are still a lot better than they were before November.  West Bromwich Albion are getting better results and, according to Baggies fans reacting to their 4-0 cup win, are playing better football.  And yesterday, it seems that Tim Sherwood’s half-time team talk inspired Villa to score two whole goals and win the game. If he can do that just by talking, goodness knows what he can do when he officially starts work today. Continue reading →