Birmingham City kicked off their pre-season friendlies with a 1-1 draw against Charlton Athletic at Wast Hills. The Blues team was a mix of first team and youthful inexperience with only young keeper Zach Jeacock featured for the full 90 minutes as Blues rotated through their squad at half-time. With less than two weeks until the EFL Cup curtain-raiser against Cambridge United, can people be forgiven for worrying about the thin squad?
It’s taken a few months, but the written reasons for the decisions of the Independent Disciplinary Commission and League Arbitration Panel regarding Birmingham City’s second breach of the P&S rules were finally released on Monday. Blues were initially acquitted of the charge before being found guilty on appeal without any sanction imposed.
Aitor Karanka’s first press conference as Birmingham City head coach was an ode to “sensible, reasonable things” as both the Spaniard and Blues CEO Ren Xuandong spoke of learning from mistakes and long-term futures. Is this the start of something beautiful at St Andrew’s?
Do Not Want. Three words encapsulated in GIF format in reply to Brummie grime musician Jaykae’s plea to “splash the cash” made up the first non-official website communication from Blues CEO Ren Xuandong in six months. Is this a beginning of a social media rapprochement between Ren and Blues fans?
While most fans were celebrating the arrival of Aitor Karanka as Blues’ new Head Coach on Friday, Birmingham Sports Holdings also made an announcement to the stock exchange which can be seen as positive news. The holding company voluntarily confirmed to the stock exchange that it intends to acquire a medical service business in Japan to continue to strengthen the Group’s profitability.
It took a while but like the Mounties, Blues CEO Ren Xuandong got his man. Birmingham City confirmed late on Friday evening that Aitor Karanka has signed a three-year deal to be the next head coach of the club. The 46-year-old Spanish coach ends an 18 month exile from management since walking out on Nottingham Forest in January 2019.
