[jjamez]

Vs

Two sides meet on saturday with their respective seasons apparantly on a thread, not this one. the home side is on what could only be called a slippery slope, their away form all season has been poor and this rarely looks like changing, the home form, what was once rather respectable, has seen a few poor performances crop up in succession, with the trap door getting ever so nearer, meaning what was once almost a fortress is now merely a burning ruin fresh from a medieval war, just waiting to be rebuilt or fall.

The other side, began the season with high hopes, a former premier league manager who had taken a fair few mid table clubs towards the european stage and a wad of cash straight from the chinese takeaway down the road. A good match surely? obviously not, the british bulldog himself splashed the cash left right and centre, hanging out of car windows speaking to the idiotic journalists who camp there from 5am until 11pm on a whim, bringing in players that were talented, mainly english and looking to progress their careers upwards. The plan didnt work. they currently languish second bottom in the championship, with only burton below them, they are however, only one point away from safety so a good turn of results could see them secure their championship future.



The bulldog was removed from his position and a championship journeyman in steve cottrill was put in his place, a man that has had a fair few jobs where he has had to keep the side in the league, with a rather large proportion of success. At the moment he isnt getting the desired results and with the foreign owners these days who expect instant results, he may well be looking over his shoulder as well as the next journeyman sharpens his dagger, waiting to put it into his back, whilst booting him out of the door.

Now in terms of transfers, the blues have, as previously mentioned, been rather busy in the summer transfer window, whilst the winter window has seen a couple of loans go in to try and save the day.

amongst the players to arrive in the high heat of the english year were three from brentford, harlee dean, diego jota and maxime colin. now they more than likely believed that they were doing the best thing, more money, higher chance of success. They were wrong, brentford sit on the periphery of the play offs, having continued what has been a rather huddersfield esque rise, in the sense that they have signed lesser known players and continued to make money. Anyways, other players to join birmingham include, arsenal outcast carl jenkinson, former brighton keeper david stockdale and barnsley defender marc roberts whilst ryan shotton found himself hotfooting it to the north east to join middlesborough.



As has been said, they seemed set for success, but it has not gone that way, maybe they need a season to settle, maybe they were just over rated and their original clubs cashed in on them, who knowns, might be both.

This makes saturdays game important for both sides, a win for town could see them get a bit more confidence back in themselves ahead of a difficult game on tuesday night, with a season defining february to follow. From a birmingham perspective, a win away at a premier league side could give them a delayed kick start to the season. obviously the cup run is welcome money regardless of how much and what the clubs currently have. although would town fans take a cup upset in favour of staying in the premier league, of course they would.

Now DW has already said that joel coleman will be taking the goalkeeping spot on saturday with the other 10 starting spots up for grabs, one would be inclined to think it will be similar to the side that lined up against bolton, perhaps with the likes of mooy being rested ahead of a key period. I'd also be tempted to start mounie who looks like he needs to get some confidence back whilst lolo should be starting against liverpool. Pritchard will be out due to already representing norwich, so sabiri and lolley will have a chance of making further impressions, quaner will probably also step up his return with ince also probably getting a period of rest. The likes of billing and hefele will probably return to the pitch whilst some of the younger players may get a spot on the bench.


with dw and his policy, who knows?

[Lord Snooty]

Nice one jjamez.

Just seen the Examiner have put a caption saying Coleman will be in goal.......next to a photo of Pritchard.

[theo_luddite]

Good effort jjamez given the amount of time work gives us to prepare these tings these days. Pretty much the Manc City squad from last season with a few of the lads that beat Bolton thrown in I'd say. Lolley, being a Vanilla fan and his mum and most of the rest of the family being Bluenoses, will be itching to score in this one.

Radio W(U)M have just said Brum will playing their fringe players who will be out to impress to get a League start. Hope all those Bluenoses making the trip think it's money well spent to watch their reserves.

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PS - is that Stockdale getting a suntan in the picture above?

[Amelia Chaffinch]

I thought he was doing sit ups.

[theo_luddite]

Thought he was reading his Kindle

[Amelia Chaffinch]

Whilst dressed as a ninja turtle?

[theo_luddite]

With Michelle on his back?

[Amelia Chaffinch]

Or is he just a shoalkeeper?

[Amelia Chaffinch]

13. Joel Coleman
5. Terence Kongolo
6. Jonathan Hogg ©
11. Abdelhamid Sabiri
15. Chris Löwe
17. Rajiv van La Parra
19. Danny Williams
23. Collin Quaner 
24. Steve Mounié
33. Florent Hadergjonaj
44. Michael Hefele

Substitutes
Jonas Lössl, Tommy Smith, Scott Malone, Philip Billing, Joe Lolley, Laurent Depoitre, Christopher Schindler

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Mounie 1-0

[Lord Snooty]

Not a bad first half. Only one team in it.