No one asking Yokoyama to play 90 mins every game of the season, but while Wright , Hannson are injured while not give him a run in the team. He played welll against Fulham u21s which would have had Stansfield and Harris in the team if they wasn’t loaned or signed by us. I feel the lack of a wide player taking players on with skill and pace is what is costing us as the striker in a deeper role is more I interested in scoring rather than creating
Yesterday reminded me of the defeat at Shrewsbury. Lots of players in odd positions. Unable to create anything in the final 3rd. It was a frustrating watch, and the lack of wingers once Hansson went off didn’t help. We’re going to need to be better against Stockport than we have the last couple of games.
I didn't boo but the reason there were boos was because it was possibly the most boring game at St Andrews in ages. No speed, no invention, frankly dull.
That game was begging for Yoko, whenever players took people on we had success. Doldrums side to side passing and down the wings for crosses with one man in the box or cutting it back and then working across the defence again. We were lucky yesterday, it could've been 0-2 easily. Not having a natural left footed player on the left side didn't help (YOKO). Never the less still unbeaten and a great run. 3 points against Stockport is a must. Thor going too far right is such a waste. Fingers crossed for Buchanan and Emil. KRO
My only issue has been that we seemed to make a lot of our signings with a view to pushing on in the championship next year and this season was really going to be a test bed to get our playing style sorted, at first it felt like we had more gears to go but now it feels like we have managed games but we can’t just flip a switch mid game to get a goal if required. You would expect goals will be even harder to come by in the championship and naturally we would be more likely to concede against better quality strikers so we may not be able to push on as much as we would like with this squad.
I’m still struggling to figure out the starting formation. It looks like a number of our players (May/Willumsen/laird) were playing well out of position.
Pre season was all about being comfortable with the ball and playing out from the back, job done. Unfortunately playing twice a week and international duties Chris Davies would probably love more time on the training pitch to work on the final third. It’s a long term project, so I won’t expect to see the best of blues going forward until next season
The positive from our last 3 games is 7 points but the performances weren't great to watch . Luckily Burton were poor and Bristol rovers were awful, Blackpool probably should have won and we looked disjointed.
I still feel we haven't quite found what our best formation, tactic and 1st 11 is. We need to get used to frustrating, low scoring games. We are not a team that will dish out a thumping unfortunately. Possession based & gegenpress 'template' is what we are at the moment and that's not going away. Still top of the league and will be there or there abouts. I think it'll take Chris Davies a while to click but he's doing a great job thus far. KRO
Enjoyed the Podcast as usual, I have no worries or complaints re our failure to devour teams 4 or 5 nil, CD is doing a solid job and the team are on the whole performing well. If I was to look at the transfer window I would like to see TGH and Ben Davies signed up and I would look to taking a punt on Richard Kone from Wycombe, always looks a threat up top and scores lots of goals, heard Luton were keen on him but I reckon he would come to us. Re wingers well I think we are ok there with what we have with Jay out wide and Keshi and Scot Wright (once fit). I like Dykes, he may create space for others but sadly things have not gone great for him here, maybe a swop plus cash for Kone ;)
We played poorly against Crawley. Won. We played poorly against blackpool, didn’t lose OR concede. While it’s unpleasant sometimes, we have to step back and look at that league table! Exactly where we want to be. KRO
The booing was due to frustration. Lots of ball possession, but rather slow-paced and lacking in fluidity in attack. I blame CD for the odd formation and selection. Hope he reflects and improves his selections and strategies.
Very interesting video and talking points I’m starting to worry very slightly about Chris Davi’s decision making I’m no tactical expert but I’m hearing many fans commenting on how he’s playing players out of position
Think the substitutions for injured players didn’t help yesterday. Thought laird played really well defensively considering he was at left back. Let’s hope we can get a good reaction at Stockport and Wigan
Tbf we happened to be booing at the whistle but not at the team, the ref was another moron (the standard of reffing in this league is trash) and we were booing him as he had made another mistake, not the team. Always stay and clap the lads, we will get back on it. KRO
Listen we need to keep going we’re top we drew bring on the next game we ain’t going to win every week as long as we’re top at the end BRING ON THE CHAMPIONSHIP KRO 💙
I think the Blues are really doing well. I’m not sure what more we can expect. There is only one real talking point and that’s style of play. Davies has been brought in to introduce a possession based style. And he has. So it’s whether you like it or not. I went to the Burton game with my family and I really enjoyed the precision of their passing. I thought it was excellent. I didn’t go to the Blackpool game but surely Buchanan’s injury had a huge impact. The delay, going off on a stretcher, our key left sided defender at that moment. And wow, another team played well. Shock, horror! Also what’s the obsession with Yokoyama? I also think some of the players are adjusting to the rigours or lower league English football. Hansson may be a ‘lightweight’, no offence and where is Scott Wright. But what on earth is wrong with him. Good luck to Blues in 2025, they deserve some KRO
Most fans don’t want buckets of goals every game. We want a group of players playing in their preferred positions showing pride and effort for the fans. The front 4 never worked as it was a mix n match of very good players not playing in their most effective positions. As a novice manager Davies needs to start taking responsibility for his shortsightedness at times and mistakes. We just want him to learn and grow as a first team manager. Without doubt Birmingham city should walk back to championship with the embarrassment of riches in league 1.
I definitely think the atmosphere in the ground has become really flat this season. Either we need to sing songs that all the fans should know or we bring in a drum because the atmosphere is dire and I sit in the Tilton of all places.
Yoko and the language barrier is rot. How many times have we watched interviews in which the player/manager doesn't speak the native language. Play him or don't, but don't use language as an excuse.
Yeah, OK, we're top of the table. But if keep playing like we have in the last few games were gonna end up third or fourth. Or God forbid, seventh. KRO
As uncomfortable a ninety minutes I’ve seen us have at home and for me I’d have taken the draw after an hour. Personally the early and clearly serious injury to Lee was upsetting, I’m sure his teammates felt it more. We do need to rotate with the glut of games, not sure about the Luke Harris substitution though. Credit Blackpool who planned and executed their game plan well. Can’t quite believe the boos from some, thankfully didn’t hear too many, this after the brilliant run we’ve been on and the position we’ve put ourselves in. People are edgy as some of the other teams are keeping pace with us. Just need to keep our heads as fans and we’ll be fine, atmosphere hasn’t been electric that often this season which might be down to style of play. Trust the process KRO
Disgusted at the boos and negativity from too many fans. We all want to see brilliant football and a Blues win. Blackpool challenged us, and we didn't fire on all cylinders, but we're top of league and doing well in 90% of the games. Get real and get behind the team.
I think we are giving Blackpool more credit than they deserve. If you play 5 players out of position you are always going to be disjointed and struggle create anything in attack.
A lot of comparisons are made between how Blues compare to how Ipswich got promoted from League 1, I don't have the answer but how do they compare? Were they risk averse as is being suggested Blues are, or Cavalier, e.g. high scoring games.
There’s many things that can be said after this conversation. So simply put blues can’t really break teams down that well when teams just sit back and defend (they have a right to do that )but we can’t break down teams that attack us so basically we’ve got a problem. Haven’t we? I don’t think we’ve played well all year if I’m honest, but we scraped by and got results, that’s all well and good, but it’s not entertaining football. It’s boring football and fans that booed have a right to do so. I’m surprised that no mention that Chris Davis picked the wrong team from the very beginning and then made the wrong decisions with the substitutions.
Spot on. We’re one dimensional, possession based football that lacks intensity. We seem to lack the ability to break teams down or find an alternative style when teams sit in a low block. We move it to slowly from the back, which allows teams to find and keep their shape. Of course it’s all relative, we’re still top of the league and winning games but there’s still a lot of questions about this team. We won’t be spending this kind of money again without promotion, we wont hang on to our best players either and they’ll be no huge rebuild again. I’m still waiting to see if they can become more clinical, if they don’t they will eventually get found out. KRO
@ if you remember right at the start of the season many people including Brian and Alex was saying we need to be like an Ipswich town. We are certainly not playing like in Ipswich town creatively with speed and dynamic movement. It’s nonexistent. I hate to be moaning because we’ve all witnessed dross over the years. The players have been lulled into a full sense of security and thank God we’re not in the championship at the moment because we’d be seriously found out. And how about we play exactly how we intend to play in the championship when promoted and get it installed into the players this is how Birmingham city play.
Poor performance all around. Two home games against lower level teams and we failed to score from open play. Paik and Iwata are playing way too deep which makes linking up with the front very challenging and one we are failing at. I do not understand the love of Dykes he is not suited to the game we play and offers next to nothing. Come the transfer window we need another quality goal scorer and a midfield player who can create chances for the forwards. I personally think both Iwata and Paik can play that role but for some reason they are just too deep to be effective. I get the games have come thick and fast and it is easy for teams to put 8/9/10 players behind the ball when we play them but you have to learn to break this approach down and so far this season we have been unable to do so on a regular basis. CD has done a very good job but he is still learning too. Top of the table is awesome after what we have seen for the last few years but there is still much hard work to be done. KRO
Harris for Hannson was ridiculous. Yoka has done enough to show me he’s ahead of Harris on the left, Poor team selection, tactics and subs. Let’s be honest we are not great on the eye and it’s affecting the atmosphere both (especially) home and away.
CD does not have a plan B. We are getting results BUT we are in Div 3...and are a million miles off the prem league. I would not be surprised if we had a new manager before the end of the season. Possession is great IF you create with it. Teams have sussed us.. sit and block and then launch a ball over the top and we struggle. Need some pace and quicker balls into box.
You can freshen a team up without playing key players out of position! I couldn't believe he played Thor on the wing , Stansfield in 9 Harris on the wing!! Terrible night of management really can't blame the players they looked so disjointed ! He could have at least played Thor at 10 Stansfield on the wing like for like swap for Dykes / May. No need to play players out of position!!
We've got Stanfield, May & the JUKE as Strikers! Thor Willum Willumsson has got to leave our forward line for this trio, back into advancing from Central midfield or defense where he started his reputation! Dykes has to go back to the SPL, he's just simply not good enough! Also bring wingers on for crosses into the six yard box! 🏴KRO!
It’s simple because we’ve been winning it’s been rose tinted on CD but he is a rookie not as good as uncle Tony who understood that systems are not the be all and end and that it must be married to individual ability which makes a difference and CD has got rid of all the players who can make a difference out of nothing. I don’t like the robotic football we are playing. For me James is a big miss since he left we’ve had no option in the middle who will drive the game forward rather than just looking to keep possession
Davies style of play an set up is totally boring. Possession football not creating anything struggling to score goals. It's league one!!.. More direct 4-4-2 please Davies. Fans are paying hard earned money to watch this crap 👍💙
CD doesn't do Wingers, he's got a directive for "one-touch" crosses👀 as Keshi Anderson exposed when attempting his explanation of how he secured his assist for Stanfield's winning goal! 🏴KRO!
Thór Willumsson can advance from CM & DM from where he developed his attacking reputation! He's no good as a free-ranging RW or in the AM No:10 spot! 🏴KRO!
We keep clean sheets because the quality in league 1 is poor.not a great fan of all these changes it doesn’t help but I suppose it has to be and games coming think a fast . I take a 1:0 at Stockport 👍🏻💙🤍KRO
No one asking Yokoyama to play 90 mins every game of the season, but while Wright , Hannson are injured while not give him a run in the team. He played welll against Fulham u21s which would have had Stansfield and Harris in the team if they wasn’t loaned or signed by us. I feel the lack of a wide player taking players on with skill and pace is what is costing us as the striker in a deeper role is more I interested in scoring rather than creating
It was a disappointing game against Blackpool, I do feel the injury to Buchanan adversely affected the blues.
Yesterday reminded me of the defeat at Shrewsbury. Lots of players in odd positions. Unable to create anything in the final 3rd. It was a frustrating watch, and the lack of wingers once Hansson went off didn’t help.
We’re going to need to be better against Stockport than we have the last couple of games.
Dykes is wast of time,every body out of position in front line,very naive by the manager
I didn't boo but the reason there were boos was because it was possibly the most boring game at St Andrews in ages. No speed, no invention, frankly dull.
@@slightlyconfused876 3rd division
I can never understand booing regardless of the result, just remember where we've been these last 10 years. KRO
We gave the ball away to much and still no Yokohama
That game was begging for Yoko, whenever players took people on we had success. Doldrums side to side passing and down the wings for crosses with one man in the box or cutting it back and then working across the defence again. We were lucky yesterday, it could've been 0-2 easily. Not having a natural left footed player on the left side didn't help (YOKO). Never the less still unbeaten and a great run. 3 points against Stockport is a must. Thor going too far right is such a waste. Fingers crossed for Buchanan and Emil. KRO
Thor should never play on the right. I don’t get why CD reversed all the positive changes that he made and then did it all again
My only issue has been that we seemed to make a lot of our signings with a view to pushing on in the championship next year and this season was really going to be a test bed to get our playing style sorted, at first it felt like we had more gears to go but now it feels like we have managed games but we can’t just flip a switch mid game to get a goal if required.
You would expect goals will be even harder to come by in the championship and naturally we would be more likely to concede against better quality strikers so we may not be able to push on as much as we would like with this squad.
I’m still struggling to figure out the starting formation. It looks like a number of our players (May/Willumsen/laird) were playing well out of position.
Juke on the bench next season?
Are you sure 😂😂😂😂
Pre season was all about being comfortable with the ball and playing out from the back, job done. Unfortunately playing twice a week and international duties Chris Davies would probably love more time on the training pitch to work on the final third. It’s a long term project, so I won’t expect to see the best of blues going forward until next season
The positive from our last 3 games is 7 points but the performances weren't great to watch . Luckily Burton were poor and Bristol rovers were awful, Blackpool probably should have won and we looked disjointed.
I still feel we haven't quite found what our best formation, tactic and 1st 11 is. We need to get used to frustrating, low scoring games. We are not a team that will dish out a thumping unfortunately. Possession based & gegenpress 'template' is what we are at the moment and that's not going away. Still top of the league and will be there or there abouts. I think it'll take Chris Davies a while to click but he's doing a great job thus far. KRO
Enjoyed the Podcast as usual, I have no worries or complaints re our failure to devour teams 4 or 5 nil, CD is doing a solid job and the team are on the whole performing well. If I was to look at the transfer window I would like to see TGH and Ben Davies signed up and I would look to taking a punt on Richard Kone from Wycombe, always looks a threat up top and scores lots of goals, heard Luton were keen on him but I reckon he would come to us. Re wingers well I think we are ok there with what we have with Jay out wide and Keshi and Scot Wright (once fit). I like Dykes, he may create space for others but sadly things have not gone great for him here, maybe a swop plus cash for Kone ;)
We played poorly against Crawley. Won. We played poorly against blackpool, didn’t lose OR concede. While it’s unpleasant sometimes, we have to step back and look at that league table! Exactly where we want to be. KRO
The booing was due to frustration. Lots of ball possession, but rather slow-paced and lacking in fluidity in attack. I blame CD for the odd formation and selection. Hope he reflects and improves his selections and strategies.
Very interesting video and talking points I’m starting to worry very slightly about Chris Davi’s decision making I’m no tactical expert but I’m hearing many fans commenting on how he’s playing players out of position
Think the substitutions for injured players didn’t help yesterday.
Thought laird played really well defensively considering he was at left back. Let’s hope we can get a good reaction at Stockport and Wigan
Tbf we happened to be booing at the whistle but not at the team, the ref was another moron (the standard of reffing in this league is trash) and we were booing him as he had made another mistake, not the team.
Always stay and clap the lads, we will get back on it. KRO
Brilliant lads. Agree on all with you both….. Just hope CD sees it the same way 😨🤞🤞🤞
Listen we need to keep going we’re top we drew bring on the next game we ain’t going to win every week as long as we’re top at the end BRING ON THE CHAMPIONSHIP KRO 💙
I think the Blues are really doing well. I’m not sure what more we can expect. There is only one real talking point and that’s style of play. Davies has been brought in to introduce a possession based style. And he has. So it’s whether you like it or not. I went to the Burton game with my family and I really enjoyed the precision of their passing. I thought it was excellent. I didn’t go to the Blackpool game but surely Buchanan’s injury had a huge impact. The delay, going off on a stretcher, our key left sided defender at that moment. And wow, another team played well. Shock, horror! Also what’s the obsession with Yokoyama? I also think some of the players are adjusting to the rigours or lower league English football. Hansson may be a ‘lightweight’, no offence and where is Scott Wright. But what on earth is wrong with him. Good luck to Blues in 2025, they deserve some KRO
Most fans don’t want buckets of goals every game. We want a group of players playing in their preferred positions showing pride and effort for the fans. The front 4 never worked as it was a mix n match of very good players not playing in their most effective positions. As a novice manager Davies needs to start taking responsibility for his shortsightedness at times and mistakes. We just want him to learn and grow as a first team manager. Without doubt Birmingham city should walk back to championship with the embarrassment of riches in league 1.
I definitely think the atmosphere in the ground has become really flat this season. Either we need to sing songs that all the fans should know or we bring in a drum because the atmosphere is dire and I sit in the Tilton of all places.
Its even deader in the Merrick, lose my voice every game trying to get singing going. 30 years ago the crowd was proper.
No drums.
Yoko and the language barrier is rot. How many times have we watched interviews in which the player/manager doesn't speak the native language. Play him or don't, but don't use language as an excuse.
Yeah, OK, we're top of the table. But if keep playing like we have in the last few games were gonna end up third or fourth. Or God forbid, seventh. KRO
As uncomfortable a ninety minutes I’ve seen us have at home and for me I’d have taken the draw after an hour. Personally the early and clearly serious injury to Lee was upsetting, I’m sure his teammates felt it more. We do need to rotate with the glut of games, not sure about the Luke Harris substitution though. Credit Blackpool who planned and executed their game plan well. Can’t quite believe the boos from some, thankfully didn’t hear too many, this after the brilliant run we’ve been on and the position we’ve put ourselves in. People are edgy as some of the other teams are keeping pace with us. Just need to keep our heads as fans and we’ll be fine, atmosphere hasn’t been electric that often this season which might be down to style of play. Trust the process KRO
I had a dream last night ( no nightmare) that we played this dreary way for the rest of the season and missed out on promotion.
We are such drama queens FFS we are still top and have games in hand
Disgusted at the boos and negativity from too many fans. We all want to see brilliant football and a Blues win. Blackpool challenged us, and we didn't fire on all cylinders, but we're top of league and doing well in 90% of the games. Get real and get behind the team.
I think we are giving Blackpool more credit than they deserve. If you play 5 players out of position you are always going to be disjointed and struggle create anything in attack.
A lot of comparisons are made between how Blues compare to how Ipswich got promoted from League 1, I don't have the answer but how do they compare? Were they risk averse as is being suggested Blues are, or Cavalier, e.g. high scoring games.
If we are to have a dip in form this is the time to do it . Awful today but we managed a point.
There’s many things that can be said after this conversation. So simply put blues can’t really break teams down that well when teams just sit back and defend (they have a right to do that )but we can’t break down teams that attack us so basically we’ve got a problem. Haven’t we? I don’t think we’ve played well all year if I’m honest, but we scraped by and got results, that’s all well and good, but it’s not entertaining football. It’s boring football and fans that booed have a right to do so. I’m surprised that no mention that Chris Davis picked the wrong team from the very beginning and then made the wrong decisions with the substitutions.
Spot on. We’re one dimensional, possession based football that lacks intensity. We seem to lack the ability to break teams down or find an alternative style when teams sit in a low block. We move it to slowly from the back, which allows teams to find and keep their shape.
Of course it’s all relative, we’re still top of the league and winning games but there’s still a lot of questions about this team. We won’t be spending this kind of money again without promotion, we wont hang on to our best players either and they’ll be no huge rebuild again. I’m still waiting to see if they can become more clinical, if they don’t they will eventually get found out. KRO
@ if you remember right at the start of the season many people including Brian and Alex was saying we need to be like an Ipswich town. We are certainly not playing like in Ipswich town creatively with speed and dynamic movement. It’s nonexistent. I hate to be moaning because we’ve all witnessed dross over the years. The players have been lulled into a full sense of security and thank God we’re not in the championship at the moment because we’d be seriously found out. And how about we play exactly how we intend to play in the championship when promoted and get it installed into the players this is how Birmingham city play.
I think we need alex at L.b if we are going to give Yoko a chance to show we he can do.
Blues fans need to settle down
In football nothing is certain
We're going really well
3 games in a few days bound to be tired
Poor performance all around. Two home games against lower level teams and we failed to score from open play. Paik and Iwata are playing way too deep which makes linking up with the front very challenging and one we are failing at. I do not understand the love of Dykes he is not suited to the game we play and offers next to nothing. Come the transfer window we need another quality goal scorer and a midfield player who can create chances for the forwards. I personally think both Iwata and Paik can play that role but for some reason they are just too deep to be effective.
I get the games have come thick and fast and it is easy for teams to put 8/9/10 players behind the ball when we play them but you have to learn to break this approach down and so far this season we have been unable to do so on a regular basis. CD has done a very good job but he is still learning too. Top of the table is awesome after what we have seen for the last few years but there is still much hard work to be done. KRO
Harris for Hannson was ridiculous. Yoka has done enough to show me he’s ahead of Harris on the left, Poor team selection, tactics and subs. Let’s be honest we are not great on the eye and it’s affecting the atmosphere both (especially) home and away.
It was not the best Blues performance But while in the past we may have lost Great December KRO
Sending Yoko out on loan is the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard. Chris Davies will be sacked within 12 months
CD will get the manager of the month for December… won’t he?? KRO 💪🏼 FEA
A matter of IF rather than WHEN.
CD does not have a plan B. We are getting results BUT we are in Div 3...and are a million miles off the prem league. I would not be surprised if we had a new manager before the end of the season. Possession is great IF you create with it. Teams have sussed us.. sit and block and then launch a ball over the top and we struggle. Need some pace and quicker balls into box.
You can freshen a team up without playing key players out of position!
I couldn't believe he played Thor on the wing , Stansfield in 9 Harris on the wing!! Terrible night of management really can't blame the players they looked so disjointed !
He could have at least played Thor at 10 Stansfield on the wing like for like swap for Dykes / May.
No need to play players out of position!!
The number of boos was very small
Go to win Stockport 1 2 Birmingham City from Leeburke January 1 on Wednesday happy new year 2025 good news year for Birmingham City
We've got Stanfield, May & the JUKE as Strikers! Thor Willum Willumsson has got to leave our forward line for this trio, back into advancing from Central midfield or defense where he started his reputation! Dykes has to go back to the SPL, he's just simply not good enough! Also bring wingers on for crosses into the six yard box! 🏴KRO!
Booing is mad, Don’t know where this entitlement from our fans has come from
Top of league at end of new year what more do people want
It’s simple because we’ve been winning it’s been rose tinted on CD but he is a rookie not as good as uncle Tony who understood that systems are not the be all and end and that it must be married to individual ability which makes a difference and CD has got rid of all the players who can make a difference out of nothing. I don’t like the robotic football we are playing.
For me James is a big miss since he left we’ve had no option in the middle who will drive the game forward rather than just looking to keep possession
Point better than nothing frustrating game last night go again Wednesday kro
Davies style of play an set up is totally boring. Possession football not creating anything struggling to score goals. It's league one!!.. More direct 4-4-2 please Davies. Fans are paying hard earned money to watch this crap 👍💙
CD is getting it wrong he played players in wrong positions
CD doesn't do Wingers, he's got a directive for "one-touch" crosses👀 as Keshi Anderson exposed when attempting his explanation of how he secured his assist for Stanfield's winning goal! 🏴KRO!
Thór Willumsson can advance from CM & DM from where he developed his attacking reputation! He's no good as a free-ranging RW or in the AM No:10 spot! 🏴KRO!
We keep clean sheets because the quality in league 1 is poor.not a great fan of all these changes it doesn’t help but I suppose it has to be and games coming think a fast . I take a 1:0 at Stockport 👍🏻💙🤍KRO