S25/26 | The Official Match Thread | Birmingham City 1 Swansea City 0 | Att: 27,441 | The EFL Championship | St Andrew’s Stadium

[magicdaps10]

This is my gripe with Sheehan, i don't dislike him as a person, but he's far too cautious for my liking. We have had a stuttering start to the season, poor at Middlesbrough, average performances against Watford and Hull at home, and a non existent 2nd half today. The subs today were extremely poor and that's down to the manager, some are critical of our defence but to me it's at the other end of the pitch we have our problems. We create very little going forward and our strikers are feeding off scraps. I know we need to try and give the new players time, but the likes of Benson , Widell and Yalcouye are not getting that sitting on the bench today when realistically they should have been on much earlier. I hope Sheehan proves me wrong and we get more consistency in our results because i don't think these owners have brought all this talent to the club to be languishing in mid table.

It's a mid table squad though! Ok, potentially it could if all things align be capable of a play off push.

IF they think that this squad is capable of challenging top 6 with no questions asked then we are asking for trouble.

Today was frustrating for various reasons in both halves and questions should be asked.
Taking a step back and assessing the situation and I understand it's just my opinion on it but it's a solid mid table squad we have with a manager who is very pragmatic. We need a Ayew type player to make the difference with what we have at hand.......could someone like Manuel Benson be that player!?

 

[Smurph]

It's a mid table squad though! Ok, potentially it could if all things align be capable of a play off push.

IF they think that this squad is capable of challenging top 6 with no questions asked then we are asking for trouble.

Today was frustrating for various reasons in both halves and questions should be asked.
Taking a step back and assessing the situation and I understand it's just my opinion on it but it's a solid mid table squad we have with a manager who is very pragmatic. We need a Ayew type player to make the difference with what we have at hand.......could someone like Manuel Benson be that player!?

This isn't a mid table squad.

 

[magicdaps10]

This isn't a mid table squad.

As I said in the post, it's my opinion and understand some will disagree.

Where do you see this squad in regards to league finish then Smurph?

 

[Smurph]

As I said in the post, it's my opinion and understand some will disagree.

Where do you see this squad in regards to league finish then Smurph?

Top ten.

 

[J_B]

If you count mid table as 8th to 16th I would say that we should be around the top of that middle 8.

 

[Dr. Winston]

The squad we had last season should have finished top ten. The club will be targeting more than that this time around given the money invested.

 

[Smurph]

The squad we had last season should have finished top ten. The club will be targeting more than that this time around given the money invested.

Anything other than top ten will be disappointing.

 

[magicdaps10]

If you count mid table as 8th to 16th I would say that we should be around the top of that middle 8.

I expect us to be around 8th-14th so would tend to agree with you there.

 

[cmajack]

As I said in the post, it's my opinion and understand some will disagree.

Where do you see this squad in regards to league finish then Smurph?

Well we finished 11th last season, and our bench was nowhere near as talented as it is this season. With the players that have been brought to the club, and the money invested,
i am sure the owners are hoping to be somewhere around the play off places.

 

[magicdaps10]

Top ten.

I can see us potentially being around 9th or 10th which would be comfortable top end of mid table.

This league has fine margins so could easily drop a few or rise a few places. If things click and we manage games correctly then we could certainly challenge that top 6.

 

[magicdaps10]

Well we finished 11th last season, and our bench was nowhere near as talented as it is this season. With the players that have been brought to the club, and the money invested,
i am sure the owners are hoping to be somewhere around the play off places.

Ok, I don't see that given the amount of change we have had this summer and experience lost. We are certainly building in the right direction,maybe I need to increase my expectations.

We should certainly be stronger in the latter end of games with the players we have coming off the bench......on paper anyhow.

 

[Frankie Burrows Cap]

If you count mid table as 8th to 16th I would say that we should be around the top of that middle 8.

Agree with this.

Maybe there aren’t 7 teams/squads that are miles better than us but there are probably around 14/15 that would consider themselves on a par - especially when you factor in the lack of experience of a 46 game Championship season.

 

[sit_down_jack]

That today was tactical. Second half stepped back ten yards and just hoofed the ball back to them in a total funk. Their aggression and confidence consequently increased and they monstered us. Whether it was planned tactics or just what can happen to a team I don’t know. We are not going to win many games with so few chances though, and we’ll have a lot of 1-0 defeats. Sheehan really has to start understanding that. We’ve created next to nothing all season, including Wednesday’s extravaganza.

I still think we are very close. Rodgers didn’t really find the best balance until he trusted Dobbie at 10. This feels a bit similar.

Agree, the primary problem we have at the moment is creativity and I’m not just talking about today. Most games this season we have been clinical off of just a few shots on target. I wouldn’t say so much if this was us last year or Duff season but we’ve seen good investment and we’ll need to start creating soon or our luck will run out.

Still, our creativity under Sheehan end of last season was good, so if we can get back to that place we shouldn’t have any problems. Not clicking in the final third for us at the moment though.

 

[Smurph]

Ok, I don't see that given the amount of change we have had this summer and experience lost. We are certainly building in the right direction,maybe I need to increase my expectations.

We should certainly be stronger in the latter end of games with the players we have coming off the bench......on paper anyhow.

You've just literally replied to my post saying you can potentially see us ending up 9th or 10th

 

[magicdaps10]

You've just literally replied to my post saying you can potentially see us ending up 9th or 10th

Yeah, top end mid table