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MANAGER

LEE BOWYER

Charlton Athletic
On 22 March 2018, Bowyer was named caretaker manager of Charlton Athletic after former manager Karl Robinson left by mutual consent.[63] His managerial career began with a 2–0 win two days later against Plymouth Argyle[64] After winning his first three games, in April he was given the role until the end of the season.[65] His spell in charge ended on 13 May after Charlton were beaten 2–0 on aggregate by Shrewsbury Town in the League One play-off semi final.[66] On 14 June, Bowyer was renamed caretaker manager until further notice,[67] and on 6 September, his role was made permanent on a contract lasting until the end of the season.[68]

In Bowyer's first full season at the club, he guided the side to a third-placed finish in League One, and they faced Doncaster Rovers in the play-offs over two legs. Charlton won the away leg 2–1, courtesy of goals from Joe Aribo and Lyle Taylor.[69] Doncaster's 88th-minute goal meant the second leg finished 3–3 in normal time. Both teams scored in extra time, resulting in a 4–4 aggregate score, and Charlton won the penalty shootout 4–3.[70] They earned promotion to the Championship by beating Sunderland 2–1 in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium, returning to the second tier of English football after a three-season absence.[71]

On 17 June 2019, Bowyer turned down the offer of a contract extension, with the club (and owner Roland Duchatelet) announcing that Bowyer and the club were unable to reach an agreement.[72] However, he later reversed his decision by signing a new year-long deal.[73] In October, he received a three-match touchline ban for "improper conduct and/or questioning the integrity of a match official".[74] Following the club's takeover by East Street Investments, Bowyer signed a new three-year deal on 22 January 2020.[75] Charlton were relegated on the final day of the 2019–2020 season following a 4–0 defeat at his former club, Leeds United.[76]

Bowyer resigned as Charlton manager on 15 March 2021.[77]

Birmingham City
On 16 March 2021, Bowyer replaced Aitor Karanka as head coach of Birmingham City; he signed a two-and-a-half-year contract.[78]

LAST TIME OUT



MYSTIC MACS FORM GUIDE

BIRMINGHAM 10 PNE 11

PNE Team News

Both Connor Wickham and Liam Lindsay will be unavailable for the trip to the Midlands after picking up injuries in Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup tie against Cheltenham Town.

Wickham picked up a muscle injury which he will see a specialist for, while Lindsay’s is not as bad as first feared, according to Frankie McAvoy.

The head coach also confirmed pre-match that this game will come too soon for Ched Evans, Matthew Olosunde and Tom Barkhuizen, while Scott Sinclair, who has had a virus, is back in training.

The Opposition

Birmingham City, known as Blues to their supporters, head into the weekend’s game on the back of defeats to Fulham and Peterborough United.

Before that, though, they took seven points from a possible nine, with that run beginning with a fantastic 5-0 victory away to Luton Town.

Head coach Lee Bowyer has had a largely successful time in charge of them so far since his arrival from Charlton Athletic, where he enjoyed promotion from League One.

Key Stats

Birmingham’s main man in front of goal so far this season has been Scott Hogan, having scored three times in the league, while the rest of their goals have been spread out between seven different scorers.

PNE have enjoyed many of their recent meetings with Blues, with four of the last five games ending in victories.

Birmingham currently sit bottom of the Championship table for possession, averaging just 40.8 per cent of the ball in their games so far this season.

Our Last Meeting


North End came out on top of the last game between these two, with Scott Sinclair’s goal in the 61st minute making the difference.

Jayson Molumby, making one of his first appearances for the club after joining on loan from Brighton, picked the ball up just inside the opposition half before running to the edge of the box, feeding Sinclair to find the far corner.

Man In The Middle

Referee for Saturday’s game will be Matthew Donohue, who has taken charge of four Championship ties so far this season.

He is relatively new to the EFL pyramid, having refereed his first game in the top four tiers in August 2018, while his maiden Championship match came a year later.

This will be his fourth time as the main official of a PNE game, with the last being the 2-0 home victory over Barnsley in the final stages of the 2020/21 season.

MACS VIEW

A trip down the M6 to the second city via a plethora of diversions due to roadworks on the M6 hence the early coach start. City have had two poor league results after a decent start three decent forwards plus a United wonder kid coming up against an improving North End side whose last away game saw us get a point at Sheff United.
Players returning to training after Covid and injuries plus a cup date against Liverpool in the offing. We have won their twice in the last two matches both 1-0 be nice to complete the hat trick.
Tough game although do admire City trying to replicate previous tenants Coventry by having half the ground closed, we've sold over a 1000 so should be a decent atmosphere.

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Birmingham City 0 Preston North End 0

Birmingham City line-up: Sarkic,Colin, Friend, Woods, Chong, Hogan (Aneke, 67), Bela, Dean ©, Sanderson, Sunjic, Deeney (Jutkiewicz, 68). Subs not used: Trueman, Graham, Chang, Oakley.

PNE line-up: Iversen, Storey, Bauer, Hughes, van den Berg, Whiteman (McCann, 70), Ledson, Earl, Johnson © (Potts, 88), Maguire (Murphy, 70), Riis. Subs not used: Rudd, Cunningham, Huntington, Sinclair.

Attendance: 14,925 (1,188 PNE fans)

Referee: Mr M Donhoue

Apart from the first ten minutes in the first half and the first five in the second this was a non event, on a perfect day and pitch there was little to enthuse about the 90 plus minutes of this rather attritionl battle.
It started well Deeney headed against the post from close range should have scored as should have Chong minutes later, Earl tested teh keeper and a Maguire shot went wide after our best passing movement of the afternoon and that was it for the entertainment factor in the first half, our tactics were turn their back three and put in 70 yards cross field passes. City looked dangerous down the let with Bela but like us were let down by the final ball.



We started brightly in the second forcing a series of corners, before thanks to some iffy defending by us nearly scored two in a matter of seconds we cleared off the line and Iversen did well to palm away Colin scuffed shot which seemed to be going in, then it was back to the slug fest, apart frrom Hughes blocking a goal bound shot there was little to get excited about as both sides ran out of ideas and got the point they deserved.
On the road up to St Andrews there is a sign directing you to the Custard shop, might have been a better option than the game.

Birmingham City manager Lee Bowyer told BBC Radio WM:

"First half I think both teams had good chances. Troy's and Chong's chances - very, very good chances. You've got to say that they had one or two as well in the first half.

"There was never going to be much in it. I think I said earlier on in the week it was going to be similar to Stoke. And unfortunately I was right, because it wasn't pretty to watch.

"You've got two good teams, honest teams that are fighting for the points. Preston are a good side, you can't forget that.

"My job is to get us to finish above teams like Preston and push teams like that. But we're building and they've been building for a long time.

"Yes, we're disappointed we haven't won at home but the other way I look at it is clean sheet and we haven't been beaten."

Preston North End manager Frankie McAvoy:

"Neither team did enough to win the game in my opinion. I felt first half, on chances, we had the better of them. There were a couple of good chances we could have stuck away and that was a bit frustrating.

"But, overall, we both lacked quality in the final third. We were desperate to get that first goal because goals change games, but the longer it goes 0-0, the mindset changes and you don't want to lose the game.

"Ultimately, we didn't create enough after the break, but they didn't put us under much pressure and defensively we stood up and did well. I'm not too disappointed."

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