MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (a) sponsored by Nigel Adkins last game

[URZZZZ]

We just cannot get going under Clement. Yet again we concede early in the second half. Swansea away now looks very difficult. It looks almost certain we will be in the bottom three by Saturday night at the latest. Simply not good enough.
Meanwhile our best attacking outlet from last season can’t get in the squad.

He can’t get in the squad because the manager has never (at Swansea and now Reading) liked him. Fcuking great.

Meanwhile that sack of shit Aluko gets on as a substitute.

And we lose. Again.

Yep posters are questioning Barrow. No one was last season when he was doing so much to keep us in this division. In the meantime the useless Aluko gets game time ahead of him.
I also think Moore needs to get used to playing at this level as I don’t think any top flight teams will be coming in for him in January.

"No one was last season when he was doing so much to keep us in this division". LAST SEASON. You can't choose someone because they played well 8 months ago. Remember the slating Yann got last season, when he was our best attacking outlet the season before. He was "past his best" about 3 games back from his injury. Mo Barrow, with his 7 starts this season and 4 substitutes appearances has got 0 goals this season, constantly ruins counter attacks, and never tracks back.

I agree he should be ahead of Aluko on the bench, but no more, his performance vs QPR was absolutely atrocious and so he deserves time away from the team. His attitude does also stink, remember how he reacted vs Sheffield Wednesday when he was subbed off, even though he had another useless game. People seriously need to stop treating him like he's the best winger we've ever had, you cannot excuse current performances for performances all the way back in 2017 because let's be honest, even with Stam in 2018, he wasn't performing, I believe 7 of his goals last season was before the turn of the year.

We were supposed to have one of the best set of wingers at the beginning of last season, now I can't think of much worse

[leon]

He can’t get in the squad because the manager has never (at Swansea and now Reading) liked him. Fcuking great.

Meanwhile that sack of shit Aluko gets on as a substitute.

And we lose. Again.

Yep posters are questioning Barrow. No one was last season when he was doing so much to keep us in this division. In the meantime the useless Aluko gets game time ahead of him.
I also think Moore needs to get used to playing at this level as I don’t think any top flight teams will be coming in for him in January.

"No one was last season when he was doing so much to keep us in this division". LAST SEASON. You can't choose someone because they played well 8 months ago. Remember the slating Yann got last season, when he was our best attacking outlet the season before. He was "past his best" about 3 games back from his injury. Mo Barrow, with his 7 starts this season and 4 substitutes appearances has got 0 goals this season, constantly ruins counter attacks, and never tracks back. I agree he should be ahead of Aluko on the bench, but no more, his performance vs QPR was absolutely atrocious and so he deserves time away from the team. His attitude does also stink, remember how he reacted vs Sheffield Wednesday when he was subbed off, even though he had another useless game. People seriously need to stop treating him like he's the best winger we've ever had, you cannot excuse current performances for performances all the way back in 2017 because let's be honest, even with Stam in 2018, he wasn't performing, I believe 7 of his goals last season was before the turn of the year. We were supposed to have one of the best set of wingers at the beginning of last season, now I can't think of much worse

Can’t be arsed reading all that.

Use paragraphs.

[Zip]

He can’t get in the squad because the manager has never (at Swansea and now Reading) liked him. Fcuking great.

Meanwhile that sack of shit Aluko gets on as a substitute.

And we lose. Again.

Yep posters are questioning Barrow. No one was last season when he was doing so much to keep us in this division. In the meantime the useless Aluko gets game time ahead of him.
I also think Moore needs to get used to playing at this level as I don’t think any top flight teams will be coming in for him in January.

"No one was last season when he was doing so much to keep us in this division". LAST SEASON. You can't choose someone because they played well 8 months ago. Remember the slating Yann got last season, when he was our best attacking outlet the season before. He was "past his best" about 3 games back from his injury. Mo Barrow, with his 7 starts this season and 4 substitutes appearances has got 0 goals this season, constantly ruins counter attacks, and never tracks back. I agree he should be ahead of Aluko on the bench, but no more, his performance vs QPR was absolutely atrocious and so he deserves time away from the team. His attitude does also stink, remember how he reacted vs Sheffield Wednesday when he was subbed off, even though he had another useless game. People seriously need to stop treating him like he's the best winger we've ever had, you cannot excuse current performances for performances all the way back in 2017 because let's be honest, even with Stam in 2018, he wasn't performing, I believe 7 of his goals last season was before the turn of the year. We were supposed to have one of the best set of wingers at the beginning of last season, now I can't think of much worse

Yep I get what you are saying. Is he demotivated under Clement? I dunno. Something clearly isn’t right. However even a semi switched on Barrow offers more of a threat than Aluko who should have been dropped from the squad months ago.

[Royal_jimmy]

5 wins from 22 league games is absolutely abysmal. In pointage terms, 20 points from 66 available is terrible. At this rate, we will get 40 points which won't keep us up.

It's not even like we've been massively outplayed or like we are cash strapped and about to go into administration or under a transfer embargo.

Clement out

[URZZZZ]

Yep posters are questioning Barrow. No one was last season when he was doing so much to keep us in this division. In the meantime the useless Aluko gets game time ahead of him.
I also think Moore needs to get used to playing at this level as I don’t think any top flight teams will be coming in for him in January.

"No one was last season when he was doing so much to keep us in this division". LAST SEASON. You can't choose someone because they played well 8 months ago. Remember the slating Yann got last season, when he was our best attacking outlet the season before. He was "past his best" about 3 games back from his injury. Mo Barrow, with his 7 starts this season and 4 substitutes appearances has got 0 goals this season, constantly ruins counter attacks, and never tracks back. I agree he should be ahead of Aluko on the bench, but no more, his performance vs QPR was absolutely atrocious and so he deserves time away from the team. His attitude does also stink, remember how he reacted vs Sheffield Wednesday when he was subbed off, even though he had another useless game. People seriously need to stop treating him like he's the best winger we've ever had, you cannot excuse current performances for performances all the way back in 2017 because let's be honest, even with Stam in 2018, he wasn't performing, I believe 7 of his goals last season was before the turn of the year. We were supposed to have one of the best set of wingers at the beginning of last season, now I can't think of much worse

Yep I get what you are saying. Is he demotivated under Clement? I dunno. Something clearly isn’t right. However even a semi switched on Barrow offers more of a threat than Aluko who should have been dropped from the squad months ago.

Of course he is demotivated under Clement because Clement is a coach, not a manager. But he's just got to get on with it, follow the examples of Blackett, Bodvarsson, even Bacuna. No player is bigger than the team and I get the impression that's exactly what Mo thinks, when in reality, he's succintly average. Would like Harriott to be given a second chance if he still exists

[Snowflake Royal]

He can’t get in the squad because the manager has never (at Swansea and now Reading) liked him. Fcuking great.

Meanwhile that sack of shit Aluko gets on as a substitute.

And we lose. Again.

Yep posters are questioning Barrow. No one was last season when he was doing so much to keep us in this division. In the meantime the useless Aluko gets game time ahead of him.
I also think Moore needs to get used to playing at this level as I don’t think any top flight teams will be coming in for him in January.

"No one was last season when he was doing so much to keep us in this division". LAST SEASON. You can't choose someone because they played well 8 months ago. Remember the slating Yann got last season, when he was our best attacking outlet the season before. He was "past his best" about 3 games back from his injury. Mo Barrow, with his 7 starts this season and 4 substitutes appearances has got 0 goals this season, constantly ruins counter attacks, and never tracks back.

I agree he should be ahead of Aluko on the bench, but no more, his performance vs QPR was absolutely atrocious and so he deserves time away from the team. His attitude does also stink, remember how he reacted vs Sheffield Wednesday when he was subbed off, even though he had another useless game. People seriously need to stop treating him like he's the best winger we've ever had, you cannot excuse current performances for performances all the way back in 2017 because let's be honest, even with Stam in 2018, he wasn't performing, I believe 7 of his goals last season was before the turn of the year.

We were supposed to have one of the best set of wingers at the beginning of last season, now I can't think of much worse

Also, I've said all along he's a total defensive liability and too much of a luxury.

[bcubed]

I don't think he's a luxury player at all. He was just about the only thing worth watching last season.

But the manager doesn't like him so it doesnt really matter whether he's considered a luxury player or not, he's out.

A great shame imo

[Pandoras Box]

It’s not so much technical ability (although we don’t have the best) but more how they decide they’re going to play.
Take Kelly. He played decent first half, some nice incisive forward passes and made some effort in tackling, took a chance long range shot (like he used to).
Second half he went back into virtually every pass going backward, sometimes for absolutely no reason ( one so atrociously pointless it led to the corner goal), we lost all momentum in midfield and we were continually under unnecessary pressure.
Even with 4 extra minutes he must have made 4 or 5 backward passes, we took 2 minutes to get over the half way line. Clement was signalling to just get it into the box, but nope, back it went again.
Why? What makes him suddenly decide to play the second half in a manner that has proven to be fruitless (for us) and has had him benched due to performance? And he’s just one example.

[Zip]

I don't think he's a luxury player at all. He was just about the only thing worth watching last season.

But the manager doesn't like him so it doesnt really matter whether he's considered a luxury player or not, he's out.

A great shame imo

Yep. He certainly wasn’t a luxury player last season. Without him we were down last season. So an essential player last season rather than a luxury. He has been nowhere near that level this season so he has to be accountable for that but so is his manager who isn’t getting the best out of him. A sorry mess.

[leon]

Yep posters are questioning Barrow. No one was last season when he was doing so much to keep us in this division. In the meantime the useless Aluko gets game time ahead of him.
I also think Moore needs to get used to playing at this level as I don’t think any top flight teams will be coming in for him in January.

"No one was last season when he was doing so much to keep us in this division". LAST SEASON. You can't choose someone because they played well 8 months ago. Remember the slating Yann got last season, when he was our best attacking outlet the season before. He was "past his best" about 3 games back from his injury. Mo Barrow, with his 7 starts this season and 4 substitutes appearances has got 0 goals this season, constantly ruins counter attacks, and never tracks back.

I agree he should be ahead of Aluko on the bench, but no more, his performance vs QPR was absolutely atrocious and so he deserves time away from the team. His attitude does also stink, remember how he reacted vs Sheffield Wednesday when he was subbed off, even though he had another useless game. People seriously need to stop treating him like he's the best winger we've ever had, you cannot excuse current performances for performances all the way back in 2017 because let's be honest, even with Stam in 2018, he wasn't performing, I believe 7 of his goals last season was before the turn of the year.

We were supposed to have one of the best set of wingers at the beginning of last season, now I can't think of much worse

Also, I've said all along he's a total defensive liability and too much of a luxury.

Ok so where are all of the defensive parsimonious players then?

We have absolutely no players in the squad that can tackle apart from the Iranian lad who’s injured and Meyler who appears to have forgotten everything about being a professional footballer in about 5 games.

[Zip]

It’s not so much technical ability (although we don’t have the best) but more how they decide they’re going to play.
Take Kelly. He played decent first half, some nice incisive forward passes and made some effort in tackling, took a chance long range shot (like he used to).
Second half he went back into virtually every pass going backward, sometimes for absolutely no reason ( one so atrociously pointless it led to the corner goal), we lost all momentum in midfield and we were continually under unnecessary pressure.
Even with 4 extra minutes he must have made 4 or 5 backward passes, we took 2 minutes to get over the half way line. Clement was signalling to just get it into the box, but nope, back it went again.
Why? What makes him suddenly decide to play the second half in a manner that has proven to be fruitless (for us) and has had him benched due to performance? And he’s just one example.

It’s so frustrating. Where is the urgency when we fall behind in games? Our defending at corners is now a big problem. We lack a big centre half who can dominate the aerial challenges.

[Zip]

Yep posters are questioning Barrow. No one was last season when he was doing so much to keep us in this division. In the meantime the useless Aluko gets game time ahead of him.
I also think Moore needs to get used to playing at this level as I don’t think any top flight teams will be coming in for him in January.

"No one was last season when he was doing so much to keep us in this division". LAST SEASON. You can't choose someone because they played well 8 months ago. Remember the slating Yann got last season, when he was our best attacking outlet the season before. He was "past his best" about 3 games back from his injury. Mo Barrow, with his 7 starts this season and 4 substitutes appearances has got 0 goals this season, constantly ruins counter attacks, and never tracks back.

I agree he should be ahead of Aluko on the bench, but no more, his performance vs QPR was absolutely atrocious and so he deserves time away from the team. His attitude does also stink, remember how he reacted vs Sheffield Wednesday when he was subbed off, even though he had another useless game. People seriously need to stop treating him like he's the best winger we've ever had, you cannot excuse current performances for performances all the way back in 2017 because let's be honest, even with Stam in 2018, he wasn't performing, I believe 7 of his goals last season was before the turn of the year.

We were supposed to have one of the best set of wingers at the beginning of last season, now I can't think of much worse

Also, I've said all along he's a total defensive liability and too much of a luxury.

Are you saying he was a luxury last season? Where would we have finished without his ten League goals and numerous assists? Bottom I would suggest. He was essential in keeping us up last season. He is a luxury so far this season and that is for both him and his manager to sort out.

Btw did Kebe ever get ten League goals in a season in a much stronger team?
EDIT Kebe managed ten League goals in one season and nine in another in much better teams than we had last season and he was hardly known for his defensive prowess.

[Snowball]

Disagree with many on here - thought that was best we’ve looked for a while.

Enjoyable to watch going forward with a few moments that didn’t quite go our way.

Frailties at the back costing us points.

Totally agree with line one. I LOVED us first half, great stuff. We looked class
and I only remember a single powder-puff Birmingham shot on target.

Our first conceded goal came from a horrible error of a back-pass.

The second was on the break, a good goal from Birmingham's POV

Surethe guy on the wing eventually got the better of Ilori but it was way out
and deep, a perfect cross for a big striker to easily beat Yiadom (where the F was Moore?)

But we had two very-near goals first half, a great, great move where McCleary put
Baldock through for that cross appeared to create a certain OG (but didn't).

I thought it had to go in.

I remembered 6 or 7 very good chances for Reading only 3-4 for Birmingham.

We should have been winning at half-time, we should have at least drawn.

At HT I was buzzing with how good we looked. God knows what the rest we're watching.

Best (at least for 55 minutes) I've seen Kelly play for ages. He had space, the vision, and
kept finding his man, until that pass-back. Bacuna was decent. Often appeared in between the CBs making it look like a back five

The midfield looked light on paper but we were never over-run. The possession and shots on target tell the true story

I wouldn't care if we went bottom tomorrow night. This is the start of a very nice team/squad forming.

Meite, with a little bit of luck could have had a hat-trick. Scored one and forced two very good saves.

[Snowball]

They've got oxf*rd Lee Camp in goal and we haven't made him work.

apart from at least six saves and one goal

[leon]

Disagree with many on here - thought that was best we’ve looked for a while.

Enjoyable to watch going forward with a few moments that didn’t quite go our way.

Frailties at the back costing us points.

Totally agree with line one. I LOVED us first half, great stuff. We looked class
and I only remember a single powder-puff Birmingham shot on target.

Our first conceded goal came from a horrible error of a back-pass.

The second was on the break, a good goal from Birmingham's POV

Surethe guy on the wing eventually got the better of Ilori but it was way out
and deep, a perfect cross for a big striker to easily beat Yiadom (where the F was Moore?)

But we had two very-near goals first half, a great, great move where McCleary put
Baldock through for a cross on Meiter's head, excellent save from their keeper.

There was also a blasted shot (OG?) from 6-8 yards out that hit a heel or something.
I thought it had to go in.

I remembered 6 or 7 very good chances for Reading only 3-4 for Birmingham.

We should have been winning at half-time, we should have at least drawn.

At HT I was buzzing with how good we looked. God knows what the rest we're watching.

Best (at least for 55 minutes) I've seen Kelly play for ages. He had space, the vision, and
kept finding his man, until that pass-back. Bacuna was decent. Often appeared in between the CBs making it look like a back five

The midfield looked light on paper but we were never over-run. The possession and shots on target tell the true story

I wouldn't care if we went bottom tomorrow night. This is the start of a very nice team/squad forming.

Meite, with a little bit of luck could have had a hat-trick. Score one and forced two very good saves.

First half last 15 we looked good. Second half usual collapse.

Not good enough, as usual,

[Zip]

Disagree with many on here - thought that was best we’ve looked for a while.

Enjoyable to watch going forward with a few moments that didn’t quite go our way.

Frailties at the back costing us points.

Totally agree with line one. I LOVED us first half, great stuff. We looked class
and I only remember a single powder-puff Birmingham shot on target.

Our first conceded goal came from a horrible error of a back-pass.

The second was on the break, a good goal from Birmingham's POV

Surethe guy on the wing eventually got the better of Ilori but it was way out
and deep, a perfect cross for a big striker to easily beat Yiadom (where the F was Moore?)

But we had two very-near goals first half, a great, great move where McCleary put
Baldock through for a cross on Meiter's head, excellent save from their keeper.

There was also a blasted shot (OG?) from 6-8 yards out that hit a heel or something.
I thought it had to go in.

I remembered 6 or 7 very good chances for Reading only 3-4 for Birmingham.

We should have been winning at half-time, we should have at least drawn.

At HT I was buzzing with how good we looked. God knows what the rest we're watching.

Best (at least for 55 minutes) I've seen Kelly play for ages. He had space, the vision, and
kept finding his man, until that pass-back. Bacuna was decent. Often appeared in between the CBs making it look like a back five

The midfield looked light on paper but we were never over-run. The possession and shots on target tell the true story

I wouldn't care if we went bottom tomorrow night. This is the start of a very nice team/squad forming.

Meite, with a little bit of luck could have had a hat-trick. Score one and forced two very good saves.

Yes but it was the same against West Brom. Great first half but fell away in the second half. Why are we so poor so often in the second half of games? It’s not a one off. It’s happening in the majority of our matches. We are incapable of keeping clean sheets. We are incapable of playing well for ninety minutes. Until this changes we are going to be in or around the bottom three. It’s frustrating because there is a half decent squad in there.

[Snowball]

Disagree with many on here - thought that was best we’ve looked for a while.

Enjoyable to watch going forward with a few moments that didn’t quite go our way.

Frailties at the back costing us points.

Totally agree with line one. I LOVED us first half, great stuff. We looked class
and I only remember a single powder-puff Birmingham shot on target.

Our first conceded goal came from a horrible error of a back-pass.

The second was on the break, a good goal from Birmingham's POV

Surethe guy on the wing eventually got the better of Ilori but it was way out
and deep, a perfect cross for a big striker to easily beat Yiadom (where the F was Moore?)

But we had two very-near goals first half, a great, great move where McCleary put
Baldock through for a cross on Meiter's head, excellent save from their keeper.

There was also a blasted shot (OG?) from 6-8 yards out that hit a heel or something.
I thought it had to go in.

I remembered 6 or 7 very good chances for Reading only 3-4 for Birmingham.

We should have been winning at half-time, we should have at least drawn.

At HT I was buzzing with how good we looked. God knows what the rest we're watching.

Best (at least for 55 minutes) I've seen Kelly play for ages. He had space, the vision, and
kept finding his man, until that pass-back. Bacuna was decent. Often appeared in between the CBs making it look like a back five

The midfield looked light on paper but we were never over-run. The possession and shots on target tell the true story

I wouldn't care if we went bottom tomorrow night. This is the start of a very nice team/squad forming.

Meite, with a little bit of luck could have had a hat-trick. Score one and forced two very good saves.

Yes but it was the same against West Brom. Great first half but fell away in the second half. Why are we so poor so often in the second half of games? It’s not a one off. It’s happening in the majority of our matches. We are incapable of keeping clean sheets. We are incapable of playing well for ninety minutes. Until this changes we are going to be in or around the bottom three. It’s frustrating because there is a half decent squad in there.

The only difference I saw after HT was Birmingham going in harder, sitting back a lot less.

It seems that managers suss Clement's first-half play and nullify it second.

Perhaps Clement should deliberately play a different formation and tactics second half
so the opposition takes twenty minutes to suss us out?

[tidus_mi2]

They've got oxf*rd Lee Camp in goal and we haven't made him work.

apart from at least six saves and one goal

It was relevant at the time I made that comment.