In the second part of my deep dive into the Birmingham City squad, I’ve taken a look at players with the squad numbers 11 to 25. Among these players are a few notable players who are out of contract at the end of this season, with big decisions needing to be made about who will stay and who will go.
An early goal from Tahith Chong was all Blues needed to beat Queens Park Rangers on Saturday, with the resultant three points pushing Blues nine points away from the relegation zone. With Championship status looking more and more secure, I wanted to spend the international break taking a good look through the squad to see who I think should stay and go. This is the first of a multi-part series and concentrates on squad numbers 1 – 10.
Tuesday night saw Birmingham City slump to a heavy 3-0 defeat away to Watford. That result means that while Blues lay in what is becoming a traditional 18th place, the gap to the bottom three is down to seven points after Blackpool’s hammering of QPR.
March is the time of year when clubs in the Championship file their accounts with the EFL to show their funding for the season ahead. As of yet there is no news of Blues having any issues with their filings but the same can’t be said for other clubs in the division. Four clubs are currently listed as being embargoed while others face potential points deductions.
Late on Monday evening, Birmingham City / Birmingham Sports Holding Chairman Frank Zhao Wenqing made a statement in reply to an open letter sent to him from Blues Trust and other supporter groups.
It’s been another tough weekend to be a Blues fan. While a 1-1 draw at Wigan arrested a run of defeats, it did nothing to ease relegation fears and Blues remain just seven points clear of the drop zone. Meanwhile, a fire at the training ground on Thursday night / Friday morning was just the latest episode in the shitshow that is Birmingham City FC right now.
Birmingham Sports Holdings published their interim accounts for the six months ending December 2022 on Tuesday afternoon. As expected, the Hong Kong listed company have posted another loss, but while the accounts are unaudited there are a few bits we can take from it that tell us more about the state Birmingham City is in right now.
The EFL announced on Monday evening that they have brought charges against Birmingham City Football Club as well as a number of other individuals in relation to breaches of EFL Regulations. The statement goes on to confirm that they had been considering of anybody involved with the “proposed acquisition of control” complied with Regulations in relation to the Owners’ and Directors’ Test (OADT).
Saturday felt like a familiar kick in the teeth as a Birmingham City fan. Against West Bromwich Albion it felt like hope and belief was returning to the team but two successive poor defeats to struggling opposition has once again brought the anguished and pessimistic to share their despair online.
With both the previous Maxco bid and the current Often Partisan Limited offer for the club, there is a long drawn-out multi-stage process to complete the deal. Part of the issue is a two-year period put in place for Birmingham Sports Holdings to find another company to replace the club in the group, before finally relinquishing control.
